KBC Group, a leading European banking and insurance institution based in Belgium, has announced a token based on its blockchain platform. The company’s customers will get a new proprietary coin, which they will be able to use through their KBC wallet and mobile app.
KBC issues digital coins for customers and partners
KBC, a Brussels-based financial group with a widespread presence in Central and Eastern Europe, has unveiled its own crypto called KateCoin. The bank said it is preparing a large-scale test with the participation of thousands of employees who will be able to use the token at a festival in Belgium this week, with plans to eventually roll it out across the group.
The coin comes 18 months after the launch of KBC’s personal digital assistant, Kate. In a press release, the company noted that an entirely new economy is currently developing based on technologies such as Web 3.0, cryptocurrencies, and non-corrupt tokens (NFTs). With its latest initiative,KBChopes to enter this new world and ensure its position as a leader in digital banking insurance.
As a bank insurer, KBC focuses on private clients and SMEs in Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. Its customers will be able to obtain and spend Kate coins through digital wallets and mobile accounts.
The tokens will initially be available in KBC’s “closed loop” banking and insurance environment. Eventually, it will be rolled out to a broader ecosystem, including some of KBC’s enterprise customers, third parties, and partners who serve 1.8 million users through the bank’s mobile platform.
The “Kate Coin” with the digital assistant “Kate” will actively facilitate the lives of current and future customers across the KBC group. The combination of the “Kate” digital assistant and “Kate Coin” will save KBC customers time and money,” the KBC Group said in a statement released on Thursday.
This is not the first time a large banking corporation has created its own digital currency: in 2020, JPM, a global investment banking and financial services firm, announced its own crypto, JPM Coin, which is also based on blockchain technology and allows institutional clients to make inter payments.
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