Japanese digital services firm GMO Internet has just launched a new web bank that it says will soon use blockchain to facilitate payments.

The firm said in a company notice that it had teamed up with Aozora Bank Group on the joint enterprise and that the two firms had been preparing for the launch of the “next-generation” bank since mid-2016.

The new entity – dubbed GMO Aozora Net Bank – aims to provide new financial services through the integration of fintech and IT, and will leverage advanced security certificates, blockchain, artificial intelligence and internet of things, according to the document.

In a press release, the new bank said it will work with GMO Internet “to develop a new settlement system utilizing blockchain technology.”

The bank states:

“Through the application of blockchain technology, there is an increasing expectation for breakthroughs for safer and cheaper payments and financial services.”

In the future, GMO Aozora Net Bank further plans to become what it calls a “platform bank,” making its payments infrastructure available to other firms under a “white label” licensing scheme.

The bank launch marks GMO’s latest project involving blockchain and cryptocurrencies since it launched its own exchange in May 2017 and followed that with a move into the bitcoin mining business in September.

Last month, the firm revealed that it would launch its own bitcoin miner to be shipped from October – the world’s first to be based on 7nm chip technology.

Banking app image via GMO Aozora Net Bank