TOKYO, June 23, 2016
/PRNewswire/ -- Mizuho Financial Group and IBM (NYSE: IBM)
announced today a test of the potential of blockchain for use in
settlements with virtual currency. By incorporating
blockchain technology into settlements with virtual currency,
Mizuho will explore how payments can be instantaneously swapped,
potentially leading to new financial services based on this rapidly
evolving technology. The pilot project uses the open source code
IBM contributed to the Hyperledger Project.
"Mizuho Financial Group has a history of adopting new
technologies to continuously improve customer services," said
Masahiko Katou, Senior Technical
Officer, Mizuho Financial Group. "In an era of technology
transformation, Mizuho is testing blockchain, Watson, and other
technologies to deliver high quality and more efficient customer
services."
Mizuho is working with the newly-opened IBM Bluemix Garage in
Tokyo, which offers IBM Blockchain
services, including blockchain application development using
Bluemix, IBM's cloud platform, and assessments to determine the
best uses for blockchain within the enterprise and across various
industries. Based on global insights across various industries and
the experience of system development at Mizuho FG, IBM is helping
the bank transform the design and development of business
applications using blockchain.
"Mizuho Financial Group is a leading financial institution known
for adopting advanced technologies such as IBM Watson," said
Masao Sanbe, Managing Director,
Industry Sales, IBM Japan. "IBM understands how to use blockchain
and IBM Cloud as the technology foundation to transform the way
businesses interact with their ecosystem of trading partners. IBM
is proud to continue to support Mizuho Financial Group's important
initiatives."
Mizuho has a long history of promoting projects that create new
customer experiences and business value by applying technologies in
response to changes in environments inside and outside Japan.
IBM is actively working with hundreds of clients to understand
what it takes to make blockchain ready for business. Through its
open source contributions and resources for blockchain software
developers, IBM is advancing the science of blockchain, helping to
remove complexity, and making it more accessible and open.
Financial services, supply chains, IoT, risk management, digital
rights management and healthcare are some of the areas that are
poised for dramatic change using blockchain networks.
For more information about Mizuho Financial Group, visit:
www.mizuho-fg.co.jp/english/.
For more information about the IBM Bluemix Garage in
Tokyo, visit
www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/bluemix/garage/jp-ja/.
For more information about IBM Blockchain, visit:
www.ibm.com/blockchain.
Contact:
Francine U. Fiano
1-914-766-4434
fufiano@us.ibm.com
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mizuho-financial-group-and-ibm-to-test-blockchain-technology-for-settlements-using-virtual-currency-300289159.html
SOURCE IBM