Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) has launched a money transfer service for mobile devices, Bagel Pay, the nation’s first experimental “regulatory sandbox” application that deploys blockchain technology.
The bank is to conduct the experiment for six months, with the amount of each transfer limited to NT$50,000 (US$1,639), Financial Supervisory Commission Department of Planning Director-General Lin Chih-chi (林志吉) told the Taipei Times by telephone on Monday.
The commission is to monitor the speed of the transfers, their safety, and whether the flow of information and funds proceeds correctly, Lin said.
The bank has teamed up with developer AMIS (帳聯網路科技) to provide the blockchain money transfer service.
They conducted a similar test in the shopping area within National Chengchi University last year with good results, they said.
During the six-month experiment, Taipei Fubon customers can transfer funds to another person or company with an account at the bank or at Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), and vice versa, they said.
Taipei Fubon said it is not charging a handling fee during the experiment and that it would be offering discounts to encourage its customers to use the service.
If the experiment goes smoothly, the bank plans to utilize blockchain technology for other financial services, including lending and cross-border remittances, it said.
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