Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group has started a new service using an original virtual currency.
Named «MUFG coin» it was initially issued only for its employees, but the bank aims to expand its use to customers within fiscal 2017.
This is the first time for a major Japanese financial institution to issue its own virtual currency. The aim is to improve customer convenience by utilizing the latest information technology.
To use the service, you install the designated app on your smartphone and transfer money from your bank account to another account for the virtual currency, according to a report in Japan's «Yomiuri Shimbun.»
Under the experimental scheme, employees have been able to make domestic remittances around the clock for free and use the currency to pay at an in-house cafeteria by just having their smartphone scanned.
Hundreds of Virtual Currencies
MUFG coin applies the encryption technology also used for the major virtual currency bitcoin. As no major facilities are needed to manage information on payment and remittances, it will result in significant cost reductions.
It is said there are now about 700 virtual currencies in the world. However, many customers do not feel secure using the system because many of the currencies experience sharp price fluctuations. The group hopes to make MUFG coin a user-friendly means of payment like electronic money by fixing the exchange rate for it.
