SBI Ripple Asia has cleared a regulatory hurdle in its bid to launch a DLT-based payments app in Japan.
SBI Ripple Asia began working with a consortium of Japanese banks earlier this year on 'MoneyTap', a smartphone application that will enable consumer to make instant domestic payments via a bank account, phone number, or QR code.
The new service will bypass domestic payment rails to allow settlement of payment flows over the RippleNet blockchain network, shedding the costs associated with existing banking and ATM fees that are currently applied to domestic money transfers in Japan.
The service has now moved a step closer after SBI Ripple Asia completed registration as a "substitute agent" for electronic settlements.
This was necessary after new rules brought in by the Financial Services Agency in June requiring any organisation wanting to handle electronic payments using bank APIs to register with local finance bureaus.
The plan is now for the app to go live with SBI Net Sumishin Bank, Suruga Bank and Resona Bank this autumn. This will be followed by a staggered roll out to the remaining 58 banks in the SBI Ripple Asia-led consortium.