SBI Holdings has announced that Japan-based Fukui Bank has recently joined the consortium of SBI Ripple Asia.

Earlier in February, SBI Holdings struck a multinational deal with Ripple, distributed ledger technology provider, to create a new company ‘SBI Ripple Asia’, in order to meet growing demand for Ripple solutions across Asia. 

With growing cross-border e-commerce, the need for foreign exchange in Japan has increased manifold. This rise in demand has highlighted the need for real-time settlement systems.

The consortium uses innovative technologies such as blockchain and promotes the domestic currency and foreign exchange, aiming to build a real-time remittance infrastructure.

According to the official announcement, the number of participating financial institutions in the consortium has reached 43 with the addition of Fukui Bank. The consortium is currently discussing both technical and operational aspects of the foreign exchange market in Japan and expects to complete trials by March 2017 for commercial use.

The consortium is accepting the registration of financial institutions continuously and expects the number of participating financial institutions to increase.