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- Japan’s first challenger bank, Kyash, is using the RippleNet based solution Money Tap to implement real-time account top-ups.
- Money Tap provides the infrastructure for the service and acts as an “electronic payments agency”.
Just a few days ago, it was announced that Ripple Labs has completed its investment in SBI’s Money Tap Co, Ltd, becoming the largest external shareholder with 33%. The subsidiary of Japanese financial giant SBI Holdings is acquiring two Ripple executives, Emi Yoshikawa and Eric Van Miltenburg, and plans to roll out the RippleNet-based solution to 20 Japanese by the end of the year.
According to Japanese media, Ripple and SBI have now welcomed their first new customer. Kyash, a fintech company with a vision to become Japan’s first challenger bank, has been using Money Tap’s technology since February 04. Kyash uses an API connection for a free real-time account top-up function for its wallet application “Kyash”.
The challenger bank has been active in the Japanese market since April 2017 and focuses on transfers between individuals. With the “Kyash” app, users can top up their “Kyash balance,” i.e., deposit money and use the balance for money transfers. In May 2020, the company began issuing its “Kyash Card,” which also supports payments at physical stores overseas.
Money Tap x Kyash
Money Tap provides the infrastructure for the service. Kyash transfers the money to be remitted to the target financial institution based on the customer’s instruction. When an instruction for a transfer is received, it is transmitted to the target financial institution by Money Tap as an “electronic payments agency,” as Money Tap explains on its website:
In this service, Kyash, which received the instruction such as a wire transfer based on the customer’s entrustment, engages Money Tap to transmit the instruction to the target financial institution, […]. This service is not provided by the individual financial institution where you have an account. […]
Money Tap Co., Ltd. is constructing the Money Tap business, a money transfer application for smartphones that utilizes Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and the next-generation financial infrastructure that utilizes DLT. It will be an initiative that utilizes basic technology as infrastructure.
Kyash users can issue a “virtual card” immediately after installing the app, and make purchases at Visa online merchants by registering bank account, credit card, and debit card information in the app, or make purchases at brick-and-mortar stores by using a “Kyash Card” or “Kyash Card Lite.”
Through this initiative, “Kyash” users will be able to select SBI Sumishin Net Bank on the bank selection screen in the “Kyash” app, and after completing account registration, the in-app balance of “Kyash” can be charged immediately. […] SBI Sumishin Net Bank aims to transform financial services and make society more comfortable and convenient by utilizing cutting-edge technology based on a customer-centric principle.
