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<\/p>\nTech giant Samsung Electronics has reportedly partnered with South Korea\u2019s central bank to conduct research on central bank digital currency (CBDC) for offline payments.<\/p>\n
On May 15, the Bank of Korea (BOK) and Samsung signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for research on offline CBDCs, according to local media KBS World. The collaboration will have both parties researching the offline capabilities of the CBDC issued by the central bank.<\/p>\n
Samsung also participated in the second phase of the BOK\u2019s 10-month CBDC simulation experiment research, which concerned the retail use of CBDCs. The first stage of the BOK\u2019s CBDC research tested basic functions such as CBDC\u2019s issuance, distribution and redemption.<\/p>\n
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The latest MOU is aimed at testing the South Korean CBDC\u2019s potential to conduct remittances and payments using near-field communication (NFC) on Samsung mobile devices instead of the internet. Samsung Electronics vice president Won-Joon Choi revealed that the collaboration allowed the tech giant to apply Samsung\u2019s high-level security technology to the digital currency field. He added:<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on cooperation between the two companies, We expect to be able to make a great contribution to the development of global offline CBDC technology.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As part of the collaboration, Samsung has reportedly obtained hardware certification for the security international common criteria evaluation assurance level six grade, which includes seven levels of security functional requirements.<\/p>\n