Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the biggest lenders in Japan, will circulate its own cryptocurrency later this year.
The currency, which has been called the ‘MUFG Coin’, will be unveiled in partnership with HR firm Recruit Holdings after being planned for several years.
Mitsubishi UFJ said it will roll out its digital token through a smartphone payment app for member companies listed on Recruit’s website.
Recruit, which operates online and offline services for travel, housing, restaurants, beauty, automobiles and education promises to leverage the new coin to create a borderless shopping experience.
The new coin is said to allow customers to purchase goods and services from restaurants, convenience stores and other shops, as well as make transfers to the accounts of other participants.
The exchange rate of one MUFG coin is expected to be equal to one yen.
The company is also said to be investigating other ways to leverage the tokenized digital currency and its underlying blockchain technology across its banking services.
The latest move has come a few years after the banking giant attached itself to the cryptocurrency bandwagon by joining the blockchain-based ‘utility settlement coin’ (USC) project.