SBI Ripple Asia, the joint venture between Ripple and SBI Holdings, has announced the formation of a “Credit Card Industry Consortium”, Finance Magnates reported.

SBI Ripple Asia has entered into partnership agreement some of the leading Japanese credit card companies. The consortium aims to leverage blockchain technology to address some of the problems faced by the card industry.

“Distributed ledger technology (DLT) has the potential to enhance the stability, flexibility and efficiency of financial institution systems…In the card industry, in addition to virtual currency issue and point management, it is expected to be utilized in various applications such as identity verification, sharing / fraud prevention of illegal transactions and single sign-on,” the official release stated (loosely translated).

Initially, the consortium would be composed of three major credit card providers including JCB, Sumitomo Mitsui Card and Credit Saison. It has already developed a new payment app using Ripple’s technology to facilitate real-time payments while ensuring user security.

The consortium will be formally established in January 2018, according to CryptoNinjas. It aims to research cross-industry cutting-edge technology and establish a common foundation for the use of DLT.

In August 2016, SBI Ripple Asia announced the creation of a Japanese Bank Consortium, which has grown to over 60 banks in Japan. Last week, the consortium launched a new Ripple pilot with two leading South Korean banks, Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank.