Japan's Banking Giant MUFG Signs MoU to Develop Ripple-Based Remittances to Brazil

Japanese bank holding and financial services company Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. said it will use Ripple to create a new cross-border payments service to Brazil in a press release Nov. 9.

MUFG, which has demonstrated an increasing interest in cryptocurrency products, will partner with Brazil's Banco Bradesco to create the platform through its local subsidiary Banco MUFG Brasil.

Confirming the two parties had signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MUFG reiterated its faith in Ripple's technology, after joining its global payments steering group in March last year.

"The new payment system will assist the banks as they work toward commercializing a high-speed, transparent and traceable cross-border payments solution between Japan and Brazil," the press release states.

MUFG and Bradesco had previously worked together on initiatives dating back to the 1970s, the release adds, without giving a timeframe in which the Ripple product should launch.

Japan has ratcheted up its consumer-oriented payment services more generally this year as a labor shortage sees migrant worker opportunities soar.

In June, a separate initiative involving the Philippines' RIZAL COMMERCIAL Banking Corp sought to trial blockchain remittances using technology by IBM. Ripple meanwhile is currently the subject of multiple remittance plans by banks in Japan and elsewhere.