South Korean tech giant Samsung;has signed;an official agreement with its native's central bank, the Bank of Korea (BOK), to research offline payments with the central bank digital currency (CBDC).
The deal will see both parties testing CBDC remittances and payments with near-field communication (NFC) technology, instead of the internet, on Samsung mobile devices, including Galaxy smartphones and smartwatches.
- Samsung Electronics Vice President Won-joon Choi said the collaboration would allow the tech giant to showcase its high-level security technology on digital currencies.
- The deal required Samsung to obtain a hardware certification for the Security International Common Criteria CC (Common Criteria) "EAL (Evaluation Assurance Level) 6+ grade."
- The company also participated in the second phase of the South Korean central bank's 10-month CBDC experiment.
- The first phase mostly tested basic functions such as issuance, distribution, and redemption.
- The second phase mainly focuses on the functions regarding retail.