Japanese Banks Eyeing J.P. Morgan’s Blockchain Payment Network
- More than 80 banks in the land of the rising sun intend to join J.P. Morgan’s Interbank Information Network.
- The IIN will not only reduce delays in the bank payment processes, but will also boost their anti-money laundering measures.
J.P. Morgan building. The Block
A number of banks in Japan have expressed their willingness to join J.P. Morgan Chase’s Interbank Information Network (IIN), Bloomberg reported on 9 December.
According to the report, more than 80 banks in the land of the rising sun intend to join J.P. Morgan’s blockchain payment system, sometime in 2020.
It further states that the Japanese banks are looking to strengthen their anti-money laundering measures through the platform, as it offers more efficient and faster screening of cash recipients.
The IIN is based on J.P. Morgan’s blockchain platform Quorum, and aims to accelerate payment transactions, as well as help banks share data between each other.
The platform was designed with the idea of allowing banks to exchange data in real time, which lets them verify if a payment has been approved.
J.P. Morgan piloted the platform in 2017, and since then some of the world’s largest banks have joined the IIN, such as Germany’s Deutsche Bank.
Already, more than 360 members across the globe have signed up for IIN, and should all 80 Japanese banks join, they will comprise the largest group from any single nation.
IIN will not only reduce delays in the payments process, but will also allow its member banks to more easily collaborate with law enforcement agencies in money laundering cases, said Takashi Endo.
He is the treasury operations department officer at the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, which is one of the banks that signed a letter of intent to join the platform.
J.P. Morgan, one of the largest investment banks in the world, has actively explored and developed blockchain and crypto projects in the past years. In June, the company began trials of its own “JPM Coin” with several of its corporate customers. The coin was developed to speed up transactions, such as payments and bond transactions, between firms.
Last month, the company also helped the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to develop a blockchain-based multi-currency payment system. The prototype was designed to “provide interfaces for other blockchain networks to connect and integrate seamlessly”, as to enable payments denominated in different currencies to be completed on the same network.
- The Japanese exchange has adopted new AML measures in order to comply with the Japanese governments implementation of FATF’s Travel Rule.
- Transaction restrictions will be applied to 21 countries that follow the Travel Rule, though transfers to countries not on the list will still be supported.
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- There is still no official date for when Binance will re-enter the Japanese market, but Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC) will close doors on 31 May, and reopen as Binance Japan sometime after June.
- Customers in Japan who wished to continue using the exchange under the Binance name will have to undergo new identity verification and KYC checks.
- Coinbase has informed its customers that it will no longer provide support for Signature Bank’s Signet real-time payments network.
- The crypto exchange is now looking for an alternative payments network provider, while waiting for more clarity on the outcome of Signet.