The prototype platform based in Singapore is entering the test phase today. The new solution will allow instant validation of cheque payments – the procedure that now takes about two days.

Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, the largest bank in Japan, and the tech conglomerate Hitachi plan to accomplish the full-scale implementation of the system by 2018, Nikkei Asian Review reports.

Aimed to make cross-border clearing and verification of cheque transactions for local banks and businesses quicker and safer, the platform is supposed to be expandable to make it useful beyond cheque validation. This is the first Japanese fintech project taking place abroad. In Singapore at the moment, about 60% of all payments are made by cheque.

It was reported earlier, that the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ was working on its own digital currency. MUFG Сoin is admittedly scheduled to be released in autumn 2017 and is intended for money withdrawals through mobile apps. Moreover, according to Asahi Shimbun, by spring 2018, a network of MUFG Coin ATMs would be created to let clients exchange fiat money to the digital currency. However, the bank’s officials do not confirm this information.

In July, Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ partnered with the American cryptocurrency company Coinbase to develop a blockchain-based money remittances system. In addition to that, the Mitsubishi UFJ parent company invested about $1 mln in Coinbase.

Elena Platonova