Blockchain startup Ripple is working with a number of Japanese banks to develop a smartphone application that will enable customers to settle transactions instantly, at any time.
Called “MoneyTap,” the mobile app is powered by Ripple’s blockchain technology. The Japan Bank Consortium, led by SBI Ripple Asia and comprising of 61 banks, will release the app initially with members SBI Net Sumishin Bank, Suruga Bank, and Resona Bank in autumn of 2018, followed by a staggered roll out to the rest of consortium.
MoneyTap will enable the customers of consortium member banks to make instant domestic payments. It will help reduce costs associated with existing banking and ATM fees that are currently applied to domestic money transfers in Japan, making those payments faster as well as cost effective.
“We are proud to leverage Ripple’s blockchain technology through our new mobile app, MoneyTap, to improve the payments infrastructure in Japan,” said Takashi Okita, CEO of SBI Ripple Asia. “Together with the trust, reliability and reach of the bank consortium, we can remove friction from payments and create a faster, safer, and more efficient domestic payments experience for our customers.”
Ripple has been spearheading efforts to solve the problems associated with cross-border payments. Over 100 financial institutions use xCurrent, Ripple’s enterprise software for messaging and international transaction settlement. Ripple said that removing friction from both domestic and international payments is central to its mission of establishing an Internet of Value.
“The release of the MoneyTap mobile app shows Ripple’s continued commitment to provide its partners across Asia and the world with blockchain-powered solutions that dramatically improve the customer payments journey,” said Emi Yoshikawa, director of joint venture partnerships at Ripple. “We’re proud to provide this production-ready technology that not only improves the international payments experience, but also have applications for domestic payments infrastructure.”
