As a follow up to December 2017 news that banks in Japan would establish a “consortium of payment card industries utilizing blockchain technology,” today it was advertised that the Japan banking consortium has named its expected real-time smartphone payment application “MoneyTap” which will be powered by Ripple’s blockchain technology. Prospective users got a first preview of how the MoneyTap app will look. It is the first mobile app of its kind to be developed and used by multiple and different banks in the country.

Three members of the Japan bank consortium: SBI Net Sumishin Bank, Suruga Bank, and Resona Bank will be the first to go live on the mobile app in autumn of 2018.

This will be followed by a staggered roll out to the rest of consortium.

The Japan bank consortium, led by SBI Ripple Asia, is comprised of 61 banks covering more than 80% of all banking assets in Japan. MoneyTap will have the potential to provide on-demand payments to the vast majority of the country through this consortium.

Flexibility with domestic payments is limited in Japan: transactions must occur on weekdays and between 8:30 am and 3:30 pm or risk delays. While there are discussions to change the window on the current banking rail system to make it accessible 24 hours a day and seven days a week, it is understood that the cost of implementing it would be high.

Blockchain powered domestic payments will speed transactions and lower costs

The MoneyTap application allows bank consortium customers to make instant domestic payments and only requires a bank account, phone number, or QR code.

What’s more, MoneyTap helps shed the costs associated with existing banking and ATM fees that are currently applied to domestic money transfers in Japan, making those payments not just faster, but cost less overall.

“We are proud to leverage Ripple’s blockchain technology through our new mobile app, MoneyTap, to improve the payments infrastructure in Japan,” said Takashi Okita, CEO of SBI Ripple Asia.

“Together with the trust, reliability, and reach of the bank consortium, we can remove friction from payments and create a faster, safer, and more efficient domestic payments experience for our customers.”

Ripple wants to revolutionize domestic and cross-border payments

Ripple has long focused on providing solutions to the problems associated with cross-border payments. Currently, over 100 financial institutions use xCurrent and Ripple has made recent new additions to pilots of xRapid that incorporates XRP into on-demand international payment flows.

However, the power of blockchain can be applied to solving domestic payment issues as well.

“The release of the MoneyTap mobile app shows Ripple’s continued commitment to provide its partners across Asia and the world with blockchain-powered solutions that dramatically improve the customer payments journey,” said Emi Yoshikawa, director of joint venture partnerships at Ripple.

“We’re proud to provide this production-ready technology that not only improves the international payments experience but also have applications for domestic payments infrastructure.”