Bank of China And China Union Pay Partner To develop Blockchain Applications

Bank of China has teamed up with China Union Pay to explore blockchain innovations for enhancing mobile payments.  A partnership between a state-backed company and a payment giant all but underlines how China remains focused on pursuing innovation around the emerging blockchain technology.

The two are to work together to leverage each other strengths in a bid to accelerate Blockchain applications for enhancing cross-border digital payments. The partnership comes at a time of growing demand for blockchain applications for enhancing transactions in the financial industry.

The Ledger technology has already shown to have the potential to significantly reduce transaction fees in addition to enabling fast transaction speeds on cross-border payments.

“The two parties will continue to take advantage of their respective fields, actively implement the requirements of mobile payment convenience demonstration projects, deepen all-round cooperation in the field of mobile payment, promote the healthy and rapid development of the payment industry, and provide intelligent, open, integrated and characteristic digital mobile finance for customers,” the BOC said.

China Union Pay and Bank of China maintaining a keen interest on blockchain technology does not come as a surprise. A number of Chinese mainstream companies, as well as institutions and government agencies, also continue to explore the technology with a view to leveraging its capabilities.

The government has already set the tone having reaffirmed its belief and confidence in the emerging technology. The government through its various agencies has already allocated billions of dollars to spur blockchain innovation as well as finance startups working on such innovations.

The Ministry of Industry and Information technology has already opened discussions with various stakeholders as it seeks to encourage more companies on the need to adopt blockchain technology in their operations.

This is not the first time that state-backed Bank of China has teamed up with China Union Pay in a bid to enhance its product line. The two have an excellent working rapport having worked together in the past to enhance their respective cross-border businesses as well as product innovation and bank card issuance.

In the recent past, the two have unveiled unique mobile payment products such as QR code payment and a cloud flash payment app.  However, pursuing innovation around blockchain technology should carry more weight given that the nascent technology has shown to have the potential to revolutionize many industries, let alone improve service delivery more so in the banking sector.