A group of Japanese banks and South Korean banks have come together for a new blockchain pilot.



The Japan Bank Consortium has launched a new Ripple pilot with two leading South Korean banks, Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank.



Organized by SBI Ripple Asia in August 2016, the Japan Bank Consortium currently counts over 60 banks in Japan. It will use Ripple’s settlement technology, xCurrent, to settle transactions between participating Japanese banks and Woori Bank or Shinhan Bank.



The project will mark the first time money moves from Japan to Korea over RippleNet. It will focus on sending money instantly, removing the need for intermediaries while reducing the cost of sending global payments.



“The Japan Bank Consortium’s pilot with Woori Bank and Shinhan Bank brings us closer to sending money in an important corridor,” said Emi Yoshikawa, director of partnerships at Ripple. “The use of RippleNet to send cross-border payments reinforces that financial institutions are ready to provide a modern payments experience and enable to the Internet of Value.”



According to the announcement from Ripple, the Japan Bank Consortium has created a virtual currency and blockchain working group to explore the institutional use case of digital currencies, such as XRP, to source on-demand liquidity for these cross-border payments.