The South Korean smartphone giant is participating in a pilot program that could eventually make internet-free transfers of the digital currency of the Bank of Korea, the country’s central bank, possible.
Mobile money with a blockchain base
According to an article in the Korea Times, Samsung is currently participating in the project to build a pilot platform for the Bank of Korea’s (BOK) digital currency.
Launched on July 28, the project is co-managed by GroundX, a blockchain affiliate of messaging platform Kakao. The Bank of Korea plans to use Klaytn, a blockchain platform from GroundX, to develop the framework supporting its digital currency.
Spokespersons from BOK and Samsung said the project brings together the benefits of a digital currency, among other things, by building more efficient and advanced payment systems and promoting financial inclusion:
“Specifically, the Kakao consortium and Samsung Group’s two technology subsidiaries will launch a pilot program to verify money transfers and remittances between countries, issue and distribute MNBC and monitor its potential operation in virtual environments.”
Payments without borders… and without internet
Samsung wants to test the features of this digital currency on its Galaxy smartphones, including the possibility of transfers without internet:
“Will it be possible to make payments via cell phones using the digital currency without internet, or to send money transfers from MNBC to other cell phones or other connected bank accounts? These are the two key points that Samsung is looking at.”
The Bank of Korea, meanwhile, continues through these efforts to adjust the payment settlement system.
The test will be done in 2 phases. The first will take place between August and December 2021. Its purpose is to determine the technology required for the system. Transactions and settlements will take place in the second phase, from January to June 2022.
South Korea had already announced in 2020 that it would conduct experiments on the digital won that would last until December 2021. Does the collaborative test with Samsung, set to run until June 2022, mean that the country is behind schedule?
