The Ripple-based MoneyTap payment system continues to grow in Japan, with several local banks opening up access to the app for their customers.
SBI Remit, the remittance-focused arm of Japanese financial services conglomerate SBI Holdings, has added support for its MoneyTap mobile app to three local banks, including Yamaguchi Bank, Momiji Bank and Kitakyushu Bank, SBI Remit announced on April 17.
Yamaguchi is one of Japan’s leading regional banks, with 156 branches and offices in Japan and four abroad. Kitakyushu Bank is a subsidiary of Yamaguchi Financial Group and has 24 branches since its inception.
The MoneyTap integration enables regional Japanese banks to offer a peer-to-peer remittance service to their customers through a mobile app. In addition to the bank account number, the remittance service allows the function of sending remittances online through a mobile phone number. The app also features online identity verification and biometric authentication, to ensure high security for Yamaguchi, Momiji, and Kitakyushu customers.
As previously reported, SBI integrated the MoneyTap mobile settlement service in 2019, shortly after launching MoneyTap in collaboration with blockchain firm Ripple in October 2018. Based on Ripple’s RippleNet blockchain solution, the MoneyTap app is designed 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 firm merged with MoneyTap in September 2022, enabling it to provide next-generation financial infrastructure with high functionality and low cost.
SBI has emerged as a significant partner of Ripple, supporting the company amid its ongoing legal battle with financial regulators in the United States.. Morningstar, a financial data affiliate of SBI Group, said in 2021 that it will continue its XRP (XRP) shareholder benefits program despite Ripple’s legal troubles in the United States. SBI CEO Yoshitaka Kitao also said in 2021 that Japan was the most likely country for Ripple to relocate to if the company is ultimately forced to leave the United States due to the harsh regulatory environment.
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