Japanese banks to trial digital currency and blockchain technology for interbank settlements

Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company Fujitsu has announced that it has been selected as an application development vendor for a field trial of a Collaborative Blockchain Platform developed by the Japanese Bankers Association (JBA) or Zenginkyo.

The trial will be conducted by the Japanese Banks' Payment Clearing Network, known as "Zengin-net”. Participating banks include Mizuho Bank, MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Resona Bank, The Joyo Bank, THE BANK OF FUKUOKA, THE NISHI-NIPPON CITY BANK, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, and The Keiyo Bank.

The Collaborative Blockchain Platform is a collaborative, cooperative field trial environment for generating and sharing knowledge relating to blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

The trial will focus on evaluating the potential of the platform for use as a funds transfer settlement system based on blockchain technology. It will involve using a dedicated "digital currency" for interbank settlements.

The objective is to “to evaluate the functionality of the system as an economical new interbank funds transfer settlement system for small-scale transactions using a real time gross settlement (RTGS) method. The participants will also use the trial to confirm the viability of blockchain technology in this context.”

Fujitsu will build and provide the trial's ICT platform – the new Interbank Settlement platform – using blockchain technology. It will also leverage the P2P money transfer platform it developed in fiscal 2017 with three major banks to generate the money transfers to other banks that will trigger interbank funds transfer settlement.

According to the official release, the issuance, transfer, and collection of the digital currency (fixed at 1 unit = 1 yen) used for inter-bank settlements will be evaluated in the following ways:

• Issuance: After receiving a request from a bank, Zengin - net will issue digital currency to the bank on the new Inter-bank Settlement platform.
• Transfer: When the necessity of interbank funds transfer settlement arises (in this case, through the use of the P2P money transfer platform), settlement (interbank payment) will be conducted by transferring digital currency from the originator bank to the receiving bank.
• Collection: After receiving a request from a bank, Zengin - net will collect the digital currency issued to the bank on the new Inter-bank Settlement platform.

By participating in this project, Fujitsu said, it aims to establish a new platform that utilizes cutting-edge technology to help realize a cashless society.