Japanese securities firms are joining forces to establish a consortium to utilize cutting-edge technologies including distributed ledger technology (DLT), artificial intelligence (AI), biometric authentication, and others.

According to the official release, the consortium is being organized by SBI Ripple Asia, the joint venture between Ripple and SBI Holdings, and includes 18 securities firms including Imamura Securities, IwaiCosmo Securities, H.S. Securities, Eight Securities, SBI Securities, Okasan Online Securities, Okasan Securities, Kabu.com Securities, GMO Click Securities, Secom Corporation, Daiko Securities Business, NEC, Daiwa Securities, Tokai Tokyo Financial Holdings, Nomura Securities, Matsui Securities, Monex Securities, Rakuten Securities.

The initiative aims to boost efficiency and enhance customer experience. Nikkei Asian Review reported that the consortium will explore a shared log-in mechanism for brokerage accounts for customers. It will use advanced technologies such as biometrics and AI to screen trading activity. Retails investors are likely to benefit from this as they would not have to input their usernames and passwords, or send personal information to brokerages for opening a new account every time.

“By gathering the knowledge of each company in the securities industry, we will commercialize these technologies at an early stage and aim to improve convenience of customers and reduce costs by improving the efficiency of participating companies,” the release said (loosely translated).

The securities consortium will particularly focus on DLT, which it believes has the potential to enhance the stability, flexibility and efficiency of financial institution systems. It noted that various DLT experiments are currently being conducted in the securities industry in areas such as know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML), among others.

The consortium is planning to set up three working groups: KYC or Identification Working Group, Common Affairs Working Group, and DLT Advanced Experiment Working Group.

Last month, SBI Ripple Asia announced the formation of a “Credit Card Industry Consortium.” In August 2016, it also established a Japanese Bank Consortium, which has grown to over 60 banks and recently launched a new Ripple pilot with two leading South Korean banks, Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank.