Since they first began employing computers in the 1960s, Japanese banks have always limited themselves to closed and rigid approaches to system development. The Japanese banking industry has long pursued an integral model or vertically integrated model of business.
A Rigid SystemJapanese banks are massive financial groups, with a headquarters, main offices, branches, administrative centers, computer centers, and a large number of affiliated subsidiaries offering financial services and banking. The majority of their financial product services are created and sold in-house. Even highly specialized product services procured externally focus on the product services of group-affiliated companies and keiretsu companies’ product services.
Today, cracks are appearing in these rigid foundations that have underpinned the banking system for more than half a century. For example, the need for foreign exchange is emerging with cross-border e-commerce and business expansion of Japanese companies in Asia.
As a result, SBI Ripple Asia is working on a new payment platform for financial institutions. The Japan Bank Consortium was established with banks in Japan in October 2016, and as of July 2017, 61 banks were participating...