Ripple-based payment system MoneyTap continues to grow in Japan, with several local banks opening up access to the app for their clients.
SBI Remit, the remittance-focused arm of Japanese financial services conglomerate SBI Holdings, has added support for its mobile MoneyTap app to three local banks, including Yamaguchi Bank, Momiji Bank and Kitakyushu Bank, SBI Remit announced April 17.
Yamaguchi is a major regional bank in Japan with 156 branches and offices in Japan and 4 overseas locations. Kitakyushu Bank, a subsidiary of the Yamaguchi Financial Group, has operated 24 branches since its opening. MoneyTap integration enables Japanese regional bank to offer peer-to-peer money transfer services to its customers through a mobile application. In addition to the bank account number, the remittance service can also realize the online remittance function through the mobile phone number. The app also features online identity verification and biometric authentication, designed to ensure a high level of security for customers in Yamaguchi, Momiji and Kitakyushu.
As previously reported, SBI integrated the mobile MoneyTap settlement service in 2019, shortly after launching MoneyTap in October 2018 in partnership with blockchain firm Ripple. Based on Ripple's blockchain solution RippleNet, the MoneyTap app aims to enable instant domestic bank-to-bank transfers and P2P transfers for customers, initially supporting three Japanese banks, including SBI Sumishin Net Bank, Suruga Bank and Resona Bank.
In the announcement, SBI Remit reiterated that the company will be merged with MoneyTap in September 2022, which will enable it to provide next-generation financial infrastructure with high functionality and low cost. SBI has become Ripple's main partner, supporting the company in its ongoing legal battle with U.S. financial regulators. SBI Group Financial Data Subsidiary Morningstar Says It Will Continue Its XRP in 2021, Shareholder benefit plans, despite Ripple's legal problems in the US. SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao also said in 2021 that Japan is the most likely country for Ripple to move to if it is eventually forced to leave the United States due to a strict regulatory environment.
