Samsung and BOK will continue to explore new ways to develop a CBD ecosystem and leverage NFC technology to power offline CBDC payments.
The latest development in crypto is that South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics has decided to work with the central bank – Bank of Korea – in order to build an offline payments ecosystem for Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The two players signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Samsung’s headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. As we know, some major central banks around the world have already started CBDC pilot programs and the Bank of Korea is also working in this regard.
As part of the agreement, Samsung and BOK will continue to conduct research on CBDCs and will focus specifically on its offline use. Last year, these two players actually joined forces to conduct a CBDC pilot. At that time, they also developed an offline CBDC technology that allows device-to-device transfers and payments using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. This will be possible even when the senders’ and recipients’ transaction machines are not connected to the Internet.
Thus, people will be able to make transactions using their Samsung mobile devices and without cash or credit cards. This would facilitate CBDC payments even in areas without internet connections. Sending and receiving money will be possible through the built-in NFC chipset found in Samsung smartphones, which are equipped with special security features. Speaking about development, Choi Won Joon, Executive Vice President and Head of R&D Office, Mobile eXperience (MX) Division, Samsung He said:
“The cooperation with Bank of Khartoum has enabled us to apply Samsung’s advanced security technology to the digital currency space. Based on our cooperation, we expect to make a significant contribution to the development of offline CBDC technology in Korea and the world.”
South Korea is focusing on its CBD
As said, central banks around the world have focused on introducing CBDCs. Samsung and BOK have agreed that both players will explore different ways to cooperate in developing a CBD ecosystem in the international community.
By leveraging NFC technology, both sides will continue research to reduce security risks associated with offline payments using Samsung smart devices. With NFC, Samsung plans to offer stable CBDC payments in areas without network connectivity.
“We are very pleased to have developed the first offline CBD technology for a central bank with Samsung Electronics. Through this collaboration, we look forward to Korea continuing to lead the way in offline CBDC technology, which is being actively explored by global central banks,” Bank of Korea Deputy Governor Lee Seung-hyun said.
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Bhushan is a financial technology enthusiast with a good knack for understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance has turned his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is persistent in the learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing the knowledge gained. In his spare time he reads fantasy and thriller novels and occasionally explores his culinary skills.