MUFG and Akamai unleash blockchain-based payment network – FinTech Futures

US-based Akamai Technologies has teamed up with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) to form a joint venture (JV) for a new blockchain-based online payment network.

Should be coming to Japan during H1 2020

As reported in May 2018, MUFG was planning to launch this service in 2019 using blockchain and implemented on Akamai’s cloud delivery platform.

The JV, called the Global Open Network or GO-NET, is the result of more than three years collaboration between Akamai and MUFG.

Hironori Kamezawa, group chief digital and technology officer (CDTO) of MUFG and CEO of GO-NET, says: “GO-NET aims to expand the payment network business to a global scale, and enhance the services to support diverse payment ideas in the upcoming internet of things (IoT) era.”

Not surprisingly, the two firms will be investors in GO-NET – and expect to make it available in Japan during the first half of 2020.

GO-NET’s services include support for existing payment processing functions, pay-per-use, micropayments and other developing IoT-enabled payment transactions.

Akamai’s Blockchain-as-a-Service solution will use its Intelligent Edge Platform to power the network. According to the company, this solution can process more than one million transactions per second at under two-second latency per transaction.

MUFG says it will provide its know-how of financial services and expertise in business development to the joint venture.

Last year, MUFG, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Banco MUFG Brasil, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Banco Bradesco to work on a new cross-border payment service.

Through this MoU, MUFG has decided to start the collaborative development for payments between Japan and Brazil using Ripple’s blockchain technology.