Samsung & Bank of Korea partner to explore offline CBDC usage
Samsung, the South Korean electronics company, has announced partnering with the Bank of Korea to cooperate on a new CBDC research.
emerging tech
Highlights
- Samsung teams up with Bank of Korea to research on the offline capabilities of CBDC
- Both the parties have signed an MoU
- The partnership aims at eliminating internet dependency by paving the way for a new era of seamless offline payments
Several countries across the world are exploring the concept of CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) and conducting pilot tests on the same. South Korea, too has joined the bandwagon. The electronics giant, Samsung, has announced partnering with the country’s central bank, i.e., the Bank of Korea (BOK) to conduct joint research for developing an ecosystem for CBDCs.
On 15 May, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed at Samsung's headquarters in Suwon by both Samsung and BOK. As per the agreement, both parties will be conducting further research into the CBDC issued by the BOK, as well as collaborating in the offline payment sector.
Here, it must be noted that the electronics company had participated in the second phase of the central bank’s 10-month CBDC simulation experiment research, which concerned the retail use of CBDCs, while the initial stage of the BOK’s CBDC research tested basic functions like CBDC’s issuance, distribution and redemption.
CBDCs without an internet connection
The partnership aims at eliminating internet dependency by paving the way for a new era of seamless offline payments. In other words, the partnership seeks to develop a technology that allows individuals to make and receive CBDC payments without an internet connection.
Moreover, the central bank plans to use Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones and watches to enable offline CBDC payments, thereby minimising security-related concerns regarding offline payments.
However, both Samsung and the BOK will continue research around stable payment systems that can work even in natural disaster situations when there is no internet connectivity.
In the words of Won-Joon Choi, Vice President of Development of Samsung Electronics’ MX Business Division, “Through collaboration with the Bank of Korea, we were able to apply Samsung Electronics’ high-level security technology to the digital currency field. We expect to be able to make a great contribution to the development of CBDC technology.”
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