Japan-based MUFG To Launch Blockchain Payment System in 2020

By Swati Kishore

The Japan-based financial services company Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has released an official statement through a press release on February 12, 2019, stating that it will release a novel Blockchain Technology-based payment system.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is the world’s fifth-largest bank.

As per the press release, the financial giant has partnered with the United States-based content delivery network (CDN) Akamai with the aim of launching the new payment system by the first quarter of 2020.

The Blockchain-based payment platform is called the ‘Global Open Network.’

It is envisioned with the goal of leveraging Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group’s reach in the payment industry to strategically achieve a stronghold for the world’s fifth largest bank in the competitive Blockchain Technology-based payments industry.

The collaboration between MUFG and Akamai was initially announced in May 2018. At the time, the partners had furnished a roadmap for the Global Open Network platform, with the launch to have culminated within the beginning of 2019.

Since then, the launch was postponed, and with their new announcement, we are hopeful that the new release timeline of 2020 will be successfully realized.

The press release published in May 2018 had stated,

“The new payment network will be a diverse payment service equipped with an interface that can be used as a communications network, and including functions for the transfer and management of value through blockchain. This will allow for a significant reduction of transaction costs for all kinds of payment services, and could support a large expansion in transaction numbers.”

In the past few months, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has initiated several Blockchain Technology based projects. One of their notable projects proposes to build a remittance corridor using the Ripple cryptocurrency (XRP) with Brazil.

Another news had revealed MUFG’s plans to trial their own digital currency in the year 2019. The plans for the development of the native coin were disclosed as far back as 2016.