On 15 March 2018, MHFG announced that it will soon embark on a verification test of smartphone payments with Toho Bank, headquartered in Fukushima Prefecture, using the barcodes.
Sources believe that the test results will contribute to creating uniform standards for the two-dimensional barcodes that are currently being used by the three banking groups.
The move can also be an attempt by the banking sector to challenge the IT industrys grip on smartphone-based payments.
In the test, people who hold either a Mizuho or Toho bank account will transfer money from their bank accounts to a special app downloaded on their smartphones, and then make payments by using their smartphones to scan two-dimensional barcodes on tablet terminals placed in stores.
The test area will first cover convenience stores and cafeterias inside Tokyo Electronic Power (TEPCO)s Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, and then spread to other locations in the Hamadori region in eastern Fukushima Prefecture such as the town of Tomioka
To create a common standard for the reading of two-dimensional barcodes, the three banking groups are considering creating a joint company ahead of the development and operation of the uniform standards.
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