Ripple partner SBI Holdings to collaborate with Japan’s SMBC

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Japan’s second-largest financial institution, has recently partnered with SBI Holdings to build a Blockchain-based financial service platform, according to a report.

SMBC entered the partnership under the SBI umbrella intending to expand the distributed ledger services into corporate trade finance and individual bank remittances.

Additionally, as a part of the tie-up, the mega-bank is also investing in MoneyTap, SBI Holdings, a blockchain-based payment app, primarily developed by Ripple and SBI holdings.

SBI holdings earlier partnered with Fukushima Bank in order to use Ripple’s MoneyTap and help the bank enhance its customer experience and reduce operational costs. The Ripple powered mobile app allows customers to make instant domestic payments and requires only a bank account, phone number, or QR code and enables users to send money.

The report also further noted that SMBC would be investing in R3’s Corda platform in Japan, apart from MoneyTap. Many believe that the move would result in a significant increase in Corda’s adoption rate in Japan.