Japan-based financial service company SBI Holdings announced the official launch of ‘The Japan Bank Consortium to Central Provide Domestic and Cross-border Payment’ along with the addition of 42 member banks including regional financial institutions and internet-only banks.

According to the official release, the consortium’s secretariat consists of SBI Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiary SBI Ripple Asia Co., Ltd, which utilizes blockchain technology and provides a next-generation settlement platform in Asia. The consortium members include Mizuho Bank, Daiwa Next Bank, Tsukuba Bank, The Hiroshima Bank, The Bank of Yokohama, North Pacific Bank, AEON Bank, among others.

“The innovative change in ICT (information and communications technology), customers’ behavior and social life in recent years have resulted in more diverse payment needs like 24-hour and real-time settlement. In addition, cross-border payment needs are also changing considerably because of a borderless trend caused by cross-border e-commerce and Japanese companies’ expansion into Asian countries,” the release stated.

This consortium will encourage discussion from both technical and operational perspectives, on activities that are required in domestic and foreign exchange services.  These discussions will utilize blockchain and other new technologies, consolidate domestic and foreign exchange services, build 24-hour and real-time remittance infrastructure, and will try to finish PoC by next March to move forward commercial base.

The member financial institutions of the consortium are expected to increase further after the launch, as applications for participation will be accepted continuously.