Brief: Fujitsu trials blockchain money transfers with Japan’s three biggest banks

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Photo credit: josefkubes / 123RF.

The news:

• Fujitsu is teaming up with Japan’s three largest banking groups – Mizuho Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) – to conduct a joint field trial of a person-to-person money transfer service using a blockchain.
• The trial – which will begin in January next year and last for three months – is part of Fujitsu’s development of a blockchain-based service, including a mobile app, to securely transfer money between customers of different banks.
• Fujitsu and the three banks will use the trial to verify that the system can link a money transfer account set up for an individual on the platform with the user’s actual bank account.

Why it matters:

• Japan has been making its pitch to become the world leader in blockchain adoption. MUFG principal analyst Tatsuto Fujii said that the bank wants to use the technology to “open up a door to new ways of thinking about payments.”
• Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies have become increasingly popular in the country, with the Japanese yen accounting for around a third of bitcoin trading volume by July this year. While some countries have begun to tightly control – or even ban – cryptocurrency trading, Japan has sought to regulate the industry. Earlier this month, the government approved 11 local companies to operate cryptocurrency exchanges.