On 28 September, Korea’s Nonghyup Bank (NH Bank) announced it has integrated its smart banking app with the government’s blockchain electronic certificate solution, reports Asia Today. The blockchain-based service will allow bank customers to submit, store, and receive electronic certificates via an electronic document wallet. The ultimate aim is to reduce the cost and inconvenience of having to submit paper documentation.
Earlier this month, NH Bank received approval for the integration from the Ministry of Public Administration and Security. There’s a Government 24 app, which is the primary interface for the government’s blockchain certificate solution.
This came into its own at the start of the COVID-19 crisis when there was a shortage of personal protection. To prevent stockpiling, citizens had to prove residency when buying masks. Hence one option was to use the Government 24 app to show a residence registration certificate. The app uses blockchain, which means the individual can share the certificate with another wallet and it’s verified that the certificate is valid. So far, the Government 24 electronic document wallet accepts 13 certificate types such as resident registration, tax payments, and health insurance qualifications. The Ministry plans to expand this to over 300 certificates in 2021.
This solution has been integrated with the NH Smart Banking App, enabling customers to view and store electronic certificates. Using the wallet, it’s possible to submit a tax payment certificate. Or one of the available certificates, such as a land registry document, can be used to sign up for Nonghyp Bank products, perhaps a mortgage, without submitting paperwork.
This is not the first time NH Bank has experimented with blockchain. Earlier in the year, NH Bank introduced its blockchain-based ‘Mobile Employee ID.’ It was claimed to be the first commercial application of the distributed identity technology developed by South Korea’s Initial DID Association, of which NH Bank is a member. More recently, NH Bank announced its collaboration with blockchain firm Hexlant and Pacific Law for digital assets. They plan to explore new business models, digital asset custody and digital asset security.
