More than 80 Japanese banks have expressed a willingness to join the Interbank Information Network (IIN). JPMorgan, which launched IIN as a pilot in 2017, has begun implementing it outside of Japan and plans to go live in the country as soon as January 2020.
Under the platform, when a payment is flagged for confirmation, several parties can request and share information simultaneously, according to the US bank’s website. IIN is among several initiatives being developed using digital technology to speed up global money transfers. Companies including Facebook are working on blockchain-based payments projects and Swift has developed a new system to accelerate transaction processing.
Banks in Japan have been under pressure to strengthen steps to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing since the Financial Action Task Force found deficiencies in the country in 2014. Minimizing delays caused by inquiries between banks could enable collaboration with law-enforcement authorities to fight money laundering, said Takashi Endo, a treasury operations department officer at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. The Tokyo-based bank is among the lenders that have signed a letter of intent to join the platform.
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