SoftBank and parters demo blockchain-based RCS payments

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Image credit: Ned Snowman / Shutterstock.com

SoftBank, Synchronoss Technologies and TBCASoft have partnered on a proof of concept (PoC) for a new cross-carrier mobile payments service based on the RCS global messaging standard and TBCASoft’s cross-carrier blockchain platform.

Earlier this year, Synchronoss launched a multi-channel communications platform in Japan that supports SMS, email and RCS. TBCASoft has been working with SoftBank under the Carrier Blockchain Study Group (CBSG) Consortium to deliver a cross-carrier blockchain platform called CCPS (Cross-Carrier Payment Service) that facilitates mobile payment services among global telecoms carriers using RCS.

The three companies said in a joint press release that they have successfully completed a mobile payments service PoC that is designed to allow users to make a range of in-store, mobile and digital purchases directly from their device. A mobile customer based in Japan, for example, could travel to the US and make a purchase in dollars via the RCS platform supported by SoftBank and Synchronoss.

The CCPS blockchain API is also flexible enough to enable the user to send and receive P2P money transfers through the RCS wallet app, SMS or mobile email – either in the same country or overseas.

“Not only do we foresee our new mobile payment service empowering merchants to operate digitally, and at a scale that was previously only available to big brands, but it will also give our customers more flexibility when it comes to their purchasing and travelling habits,” said Takeshi Fukuizumi, VP of Softbank.

Synchronoss CEO and president Glenn Lurie said the PoC demonstrates that RCS messaging could become the foundation for “a new, feature-rich marketplace for brands and merchants, both large and small, to interact with subscribers.”

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