TBCASoft, the cross-carrier blockchain technology leader, announced the Initial Close of Series B funding, in which it raised up to $25 million. The investment was led by Naver Financial Corporation (“Naver Financial”), a subsidiary of South Korea’s internet giant Naver Corporation, with participation from existing investor SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”). Naver Financial becomes the second largest institutional investor, investing up to $20 million, while SoftBank, with up to a $5 million investment in this round, will remain the largest institutional investor. The strategic investment by Naver Financial and SoftBank reinforces the shared vision of providing the largest open mobile payment network to offer a ubiquitous merchant acceptance experience. Proceeds of the Series B will be used to step-up international expansion of the HIVEX™ Network, starting from the roll-out across Northeast Asia including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, followed by Southeast Asia, and will also be used to attract additional talent and drive more innovations.

PChome InterPay and TBCASoft jointly announced the participation of Pi Plus in the HIVEX™ payment platform. HIVEX, an open mobile payment platform developed by TBCASoft enables transactions among different mobile payment service providers, creating a ubiquitous merchant acceptance experience for mobile payment users around the world under the HIVEX brand. Pi Plus is a digital payment service developed by PChome InterPay, a mobile payment arm of leading Taiwan fintech company Pi Mobile Technology. By joining the HIVEX payment platform, Pi Plus users will be able to complete mobile payment transactions using Pi Plus in Japan at up to 2.5 million merchant stores showing the HIVEX acceptance mark. The HIVEX payment platform is currently service ready and anticipating the reopening of international travel and regulatory approval.

POB transactions between Asia Pacific Telecom and US carrier validates CCPS-enabled live retail purchases
The Carrier Blockchain Study Group (“CBSG”), the global blockchain consortium of telecom carriers and US-based TBCASoft (“TBCASoft”), today announced that Taiwan-based Asia Pacific Telecom Co., Ltd. (“APTG”) and a US-based carrier jointly completed Proof-of-Business (POB) mobile payment transactions enabled by the Cross-Carrier Payment System (CCPS) platform, a cross-carrier blockchain payment network developed by TBCASoft. The CCPS network aims to create the largest open payment network enabling cross-border transactions and interoperability for mobile payment solutions globally.
In the December 2019 POB, mobile subscribers from the US carrier visiting Taiwan used their mobile payment app to complete purchases at a participating merchant while on APTG’s payment network called Gt Pay, which is connected to the CCPS network. CCPS enables the transactions to be conveniently billed and paid through direct carrier billing in the purchaser’s home currency.