The cryptocurrency will be rolled out to retail shops and regional banks. It will enable standard transactions, such as shopping or transfer of money between individuals, at much lower costs as compared to credit cards.
Scheduled to go live in March 2019, Mizuho’s coin would be convertible into yen on a one-to-one basis, operating via a smartphone app and using QR codes to be scanned in stores. Users and retail shops will not be charged a fee on the cryptocurrency transactions, including transferring funds between their smartphones and bank accounts or sending funds to other users or the shops’ corporate bank accounts.
In return for providing the service for free, the banks would benefit by collecting more data on consumer spending patterns.
Mizuho also has a particular interest in blockchain technology. Last year, it completed a trade finance transaction via a blockchain, which involved sending information from Japan to Australia with key financial data.
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