As planned, if all goes well, a joint research initiative by Samsung and the Bank of Korea has the high feasibility of implementing central bank digital currency (CBDC)-based offline payments through Samsung Galaxy smartphones and smartwatches.
Korean media reports report Samsung Electronics and the Bank of Korea will begin joint research to develop an ecosystem for CBDC. Accordingly, the company signed a formal agreement with the central bank to conduct research in the offline payment space.
This is a continuation of a pilot project started in 2022 between the two parties, which focused on CBDC technology that enables device-to-device transfers via near field communication (NFC). The new initiative is said to be aimed at overcoming difficulties such as the lack of network connectivity in locations inside South Korea. This is also an attempt to subvert the use of cards and cash payments in the country.
Samsung informed that the research will focus on minimizing security issues in offline payments when made through Samsung Galaxy smartphones and smartwatches.
“We hope Korea continues to lead the way in offline CBDC technology, which is being actively studied by global central banks.” said Lee Seung-heon, senior deputy governor of the Bank of Korea.
However, the crypto market community is fundamentally opposed to the implementation of CBDC, which is also based on blockchain, the underlying technology behind cryptocurrencies.
