Today GO-NET (Global Open Network), the high-speed payment network that uses blockchain, launched its first service to connect payment service providers. GO-NET was first announced in early 2019 and was set up as a joint venture between Japan’s MUFG (80%) and technology partner Akamai. It’s positioning itself as a domestic payment backbone similar to the big card networks, although it’s collaborating with both Visa and Mastercard.
One of GO-NET’s key benefits is its low cost. MUFG found that merchant acquirer fees are a significant cost, especially for small transactions where the fees are sometimes uneconomic. Hence, GO-NET is well suited for smaller payments, such as using card payments at vending machines and loyalty points, with an eye on IoT payments in the future.
Hitachi is a partner on the IoT front and is exploring incorporating GO-NET in its IoT platform Lumada. The GO-NET solution claims to be capable of 100,000 transactions per second.
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