Sumitomo Mitsui is also a member of the R3 blockchain consortium, having joined the group in December 2015. At the beginning of 2016, the bank announced that it was partnering with several institutions in Japan, including Osaka-based Kinki University, to research applications of the technology. This announcement suggests that the bank’s research on blockchain has determined it to begin developing prototypes alongside IBM Japan and domestic IT firm NEC Corporation.
Furthermore, the bank said that it would work with a joint venture between SBI Holdings and Ripple on testing cross-border remittances using the technology. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank said that, in the long term, it hopes to “create new remittance/settlement services utilizing blockchain technology”.
Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.
Subscribe now