Consortium of Japanese firms to test launch digital currency - Nikkei (updated)
23/11/2021 23:31
* Consortium includes Japan's 3 mega-banks - Nikkei
* Goal is to distribute digital currency late 2022 - Nikkei
* Initiative may affect BOJ's experiment on CBDC
(Adds details on bank deposits, background on Japan's CBDC)
By Leika Kihara
TOKYO, Nov 24 (Reuters) - A consortium of roughly 70
Japanese firms, including the country's three mega-banks, will
begin experiments to launch a digital currency as early as the
latter half of 2022, the Nikkei newspaper said on Wednesday.
The digital currency will be backed by bank deposits and use
a common platform to speed up large-scale fund transfers and
settlement among companies, and cut costs, the paper said.
The consortium, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc
8306.T , Mizuho Financial Group Inc 8411.T and Sumitomo
Mitsui Financial Group Inc 8316.T , have been meeting regularly
since last year to study ways to build a common settlement
infrastructure for digital payments.
The three banks have each rolled out their own digital
payment systems but lag efforts by tech firms such as SoftBank
Group 9984.T unit PayPay.
The initiative could affect the Bank of Japan's separate
ongoing experiment for issuing a central bank digital currency
(CBDC), as policymakers have said they would work closely with
the private sector if it were to issue a CBDC.
The Japanese are the most cash-loving population in the
world and many transactions are still completed in notes and
coins. Authorities have been, however, keen to promote cashless
transactions to increase productivity.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara;
Editing by Chris Reese and Stephen Coates)
((leika.kihara@thomsonreuters.com; +813-6441-1828; Reuters
Messaging: leika.kihara.reuters.com@reuters.net))