The Japan Credit Bureau (JCB) has reportedly declared the beginning of its central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure testing, as stated in a statement made by a local media outlet. The ‘JCBDC’ project creates and tests prototypes of central bank digital currency settlement systems. 

The project’s goal is to facilitate CBDC transactions using the preexisting credit card infrastructure and card-shaped interface developed by JCB. JCB will work with IDEMIA, a face recognition technology supplier located in France, and Softspace, a Malaysian software company.

The report said that future plans to implement a CBDC suitable for widespread retail usage must contend with obstacles including making the technology compatible with a broad variety of consumers who may not have access to smartphones, such as the elderly and children. It is claimed that it will carry out a demonstration equivalent to supplying the environment in the appropriate manner.

Additionally, the business has been focusing on developing other uses for the blockchain technology. It has significantly increased its efforts in web3, especially those that are relevant to the metaverse. The three companies, JCB, JP Games, and Fujitsu, are working together to develop a model that acknowledges the fact that it is, in essence, a decentralized identifier. Interoperability with NFT markets was another primary goal of this initiative.

JCB said:

“In the “JCBDC” project, we plan to develop a payment solution by the end of 2022 and conduct demonstration experiments at actual stores until the end of March 2023 to verify technology and eliminate problems.”

They added that in addition to providing a simulation of the operational environment of CBDC, the project will include the issuing and supply of plastic cards for CBDC. On top of that, it will enable users and shops who handle CBDC with an inquiry interface that can be used to check the balance of their CBDC accounts.