On Wednesday 26, SBI Ripple Asia announced that they had successfully registered as a substitute agent for electronic settlement. The SBI Ripple Asia Co. Ltd was created following a partnership between Ripple and SBI Holding. The company is headquartered in Japan and aims at facilitating peer-to-peer money transfer through blockchain technology. The company has now crossed a major point in its goals as the Kantou bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Finance has approved its registration.
Money Tap App, A First In Japan
The company is scheduled to release the much-anticipated Money Tap App that will facilitate for the peer-to-peer money transfers for retail users in Autumn. The App will use Ripple’s blockchain technology as its underlying technology and connect with open APIs from financial institutions. The company earlier revealed that it will be initially working with 3 banks (SBI Net Sumishin Bank, Suruga Bank, and Resona Bank.) but development plans were ongoing to expand to more than 60 financial institutions.
According to Takashi Okita, chief executive of SBI Ripple Asia, the Money Tap App will be ready by autumn and will be initially released on iOS and Android devices.
It was fundamental for the company to get licensing since the government of Japan established that any entity operating as an agent to handle electronic payments using banks’ open APIs must be licensed. This law was enforced from June 1 by the Treasury Department. Now that the company has been approved to become an agent, it is set to launch the App and make transfers between retail users and banks.
This service will be a first for Japan and although the team has not disclosed if there are plans to expand into other countries, it is a much-needed service in ma
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