Major Japanese Banks Seek Lower Costs With Blockchain Payments
Several major Japanese banks, in partnership with bitcoin exchange bitFlyer and Deloitte Japan, have published the first results of a blockchain interbank payments trial. The Blockchain Study Group, which includes Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., have spent the last year collaboratively testing the technology for uses in bank-to-bank payments. The results of the specific trial disclosed today relate to the issuance of payments. According to the institutions involved, future testing will be widened to include the....
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A number of Japanese banks are reportedly set to test domestic fund transfers using digital currencies over a blockchain as a low-cost alternative to traditional money transfers. According to a Thursday report by Nikkei, Japan’s most prominent financial publication, a handful of major Japanese banks will perform tests to determine if a digital currency powered blockchain platform could prove a viable alternative for the current national payments clearing platform ‘Zengin’. Operated by the Japanese Bankers Association, the Zengin System powers domestic money transfers in Japan. The....
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In the race to adopt Blockchain technology and cut costs, financial firms have to deal with multiple challenges. Japanese financial firms have been hit by the most basic of them of all – a shortage of technical experts. Japan – regulation a positive. The Japanese government has been active in regulating cryptocurrency-based companies. A new law has been passed regulating Bitcoin exchanges, after the Mt Gox debacle. The Japanese Government passed a bill in May 2016, which recognized that virtual currencies have a function similar to money. Japan has also eased regulations, now allowing....