The Korea Federation of Banks (KFB) plans to implement a system of checking IDs on the blockchain for commercial banks.
A new system called BankSign will be launched in July after passing the testing phase, which began in April of this year. The private platform was built on the basis of Nexledger and developed by Samsung SDS. With its help, banks will be able to replace the existing ID verification system that has existed for 20 years in South Korea.
“BankSign is the first project co-developed by the local banking sector utilizing blockchain technology,” KFB spokesperson said.
KFB was founded in 1984. It represents commercial banks in South Korea including Shinhan and Woori, who are financial institutions involved in studying cross-border money transfers with the help of a blockchain.
The new identification service created on the blockchain will be available both for online banking and for mobile banking applications. This is one of the first attempts by South Korean commercial banks to make blockchain applications available for ordinary consumers.
Beta testing of the BankSign system began in April after the South Korean government lifted the mandate for banks to use a traditional system that allows the banking industry to freely use more optimized services.
Earlier in May the South Korean National Assembly has officially made a proposal to allow local initial coin offerings (ICOs), potentially lifting the blanket ban imposed by the government last September.
By Ekaterina Ulyanova