MUFG Pulls the Blockchain Trigger
Japan’s largest lender together with a tech giant plans to develop a new blockchain. The companies hope that the platform will be able to process a million transactions per second.
The rapid spread of financial technology combined with steep decline in population decline are forcing Japan's biggest banks to reshape their business models. The ubiquitous spread of fintech solutions has been a timely game changer for the institutions famous for their «jobs for life».
Japanese mega-bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Akamai Technologies have launched the development of a new blockchain service intended to be rolled out in 2019.
Speedy – Yet Safe
The blockchain payment processing platform will amplify the speed and reduce the cost of payments, according to a media statement from MUFG and Akamai. It will have the capacity to process a million transactions per second and the ability to finalize transactions in less than two seconds.
«We have high expectations for our partnership with Akamai to provide customers the ability to support significantly greater volumes of high-speed payment transactions without compromising the level of security required for payment networks,» said Nobuyuki Hirano, President and CEO of MUFG
Banal Banking Tasks to Go
In response to the changing demographics, MUFG aims to cut some 6,000 staff of its 40,000-strong domestic Japanese workforce by the end of 2023 and also plans to eliminate the workload equivalent of 9,500 employees by automating mundane tasks.
MUFG is also looking overseas for growth, pinning its hopes on the burgeoning Indonesian middle class with its bid to acquire Bank Danamon as finews.asia first reported in November last year.
