World’s 5th Largest Bank Aims to Debut Blockchain Payment Network in 2020

Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) has officially announced it will launch a new blockchain-based payment system, according to a press release published on Feb. 12.

The world’s fifth-largest bank is working on the project in partnership with United States content delivery network Akamai, with the aim to launch in H1 2020.

Dubbed the “Global Open Network,” the platform aims to utilize MUFG’s payment industry reach to cement its standing in the increasingly competitive blockchain payments market.

MUFG and Akamai had first announced a partnership in May of last year, issuing an outline of what would become the Global Open Network and setting a launch date for the start of the 2018 fiscal year that has not been realized.

“The new payment network will be a diverse payment service equipped with an interface that can be used as a communications network, and including functions for the transfer and management of value through blockchain,” a press release explained at the time, adding:

“This will allow for a significant reduction of transaction costs for all kinds of payment services, and could support a large expansion in transaction numbers.”

MUFG has embarked on various blockchain endeavors in recent months, among which was an initiative to develop a remittance corridor with Brazil using Ripple (XRP).

Also in May, MUFG hinted it would begin trialling its own cryptocurrency in 2019, having originally revealed plans for its creation in 2016.