Japanese banks join forces to develop blockchain finance platform

Five Japanese banks, including Bank of Iwate, Bank of Yokohama, Aomori Bank, Akita Bank, and Yamanashi Chuo Bank, have joined forces to develop a new financial services infrastructure based on blockchain technology. This was confirmed via a joint press statement published on March 1.

The statement read:

“Financial service platform is a service provider infrastructure system built on the cloud in order for financial institutions and business operators to jointly provide financial services.”

The cloud-based platform, named “Fitting Hub,” was officially registered on February 12th and aims to streamline operations and reduce costs for the participating banks.

The authors explained:

“For financial institutions and business operators who provide services, such joint service provision can make the system inexpensive compared to separate systems, as well as greatly reduce postage and mailing costs.”

It added:

“…by combining the distributed register technology and the data encryption technology , We are building a safe and low-cost system…By integrating authentication functions, users are able to use services without being conscious of financial institutions.”

In collaboration with IBM Japan, the platform is set to launch its electronic delivery service in April, following a testing phase that began in July 2018. By utilizing blockchain technology, the banks anticipate significant cost savings through joint service offerings.

This initiative is part of a growing trend of blockchain adoption in Japan’s financial sector. Last year, nine Japanese banks partnered to test an inter-bank settlement system using Fujitsu’s blockchain technology. Additionally, MUFG Bank recently announced its plans to launch a blockchain-based payment network by 2020, utilizing cloud technology and artificial intelligence to process millions of transactions per second.

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