TL;DR
- The JCBDC will be a three-company joint project.
- JCBDC to adopt blockchain technology.
- The project will run using the ‘token method’ instead of the ‘account method.’
JCB, a Japan-based payment brand, on October 24 announced the launch of the “JCBDC” project experiment. The project aims to develop and conduct CBDC settlement solutions using JCB’s existing credit card infrastructure and the card-shaped interface.
IDEMIA, a French company that offers augmented identities to foreign customers in finance and related fields, and Softspace, a Malaysian fintech company, will collaborate on the project.
One of the challenges faced with introducing the general type of CBDC is the integration with already known payment systems and wide range adoption down to those who do not use smartphones. In line with this, according to the official release, three companies will come up with solutions that will cover Card provision for CBDC, “Utilization of touch payment infrastructure provided by JCB,” and “Building a simulated CBDC handling environment”.
Utilization of touch payment infrastructure by JCB for handling stores and user interface will be built in a way that allows the JCB touch payment to be used as it is. The payment infrastructure will be a “Tap on Mobile,” which uses Softspace’s smartphone feature as a contactless payment terminal.
A card-shaped CBDC interface with a built-in touch payment function will be made available by “Provision of cards for CBDC.”
For the demonstration, touch payment will be used but will be replaced by mobile payment solutions such as “QUICPay” and “QUICPay+” and QR codes by JCB, which will function for both smartphones and cards. “The company will also consider using the barcode payment solution ‘Smart Code’”, the official release said.
Additionally, the ‘token method’ instead of the ‘account method’ was adopted in the “construction of a pseudo-CBDC handling environment.” “This time, we adopted the token method that builds a value management function on the blockchain and created our pseudo; it is said that it will provide a typical CBDC environment. On top of that, it will provide an inquiry interface for users and CBDC-handling stores to check their CBDC balances.” The announcement by JCB said.
The “JCBDC” project will have a payment solution by the end of 2022, the announcement revealed. Also, the experiments will be conducted at actual stores ranging till March 2023 to verify the technology and eliminate identified problems.
JCB’s Spokesperson has confirmed with “Atarashii Economy” how the blockchain will be adopted for the solution JCB is developing.
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