The international payment system, Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) is about to carry out a central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure test to prepare a payment platform for the national CBDC, which is currently in the process of being tested by the Bank of Japan (BoJ).
Explained, the project is called JCBDC which will function as the coordination of JCB credit cards to the CBDC payment system with the collaboration of IDEMIA, a provider of facial recognition technology and Malaysian Softspace based in France.
In fact, it will also establish contactless payments, production and provision of CBDC plastic cards, simulation of the CBDC environment including adjusting mobile payment tools and QR codes.
JCB also intends to develop CBDC payments by the end of 2022 and will carry out demonstration experiments in real stores by the end of March 2023.
According to the BoJ governors, they will test the technical aspects of digital yen issuance during the second phase of the trial launched in 2026.
However, the launch of the project and the scope of its implementation are still uncertain after the former head of the BOJ's financial settlement department stated that it refused to use the digital yen as part of the national monetary system.
It is understood that JCB is not a company that has recently delved into digital innovation as they have signed an agreement with Fujitsu Laboratories in 2020 to establish a pioneering digital identity interoperability system based on blockchain technology.
