Belgian Banking Group KBC Launches Blockchain-Based Coin

Belgian Banking Group KBC Launches Blockchain-Based Coin

European banking and insurance group headquartered in Belgium, the KBC Group has launched a token based on a blockchain platform. Its customers will be able to acquire the new proprietary coins and use them through their KBC wallet and mobile app.

KBC Issues Digital Coin for Clients and Partners

The Brussels-based financial group, KBC with an extensive presence in Central and Eastern Europe, has announced its own crypto called ‘Kate Coin.’ The bank said it’s preparing a large-scale test of the token, with the participation of thousands of employees who will be able to spend it at a festival in Belgium this week, before eventually rolling it out across the group.

The coin comes eighteen months after the launch of Kate, KBC’s personal digital assistant. In a press release, the company announced that a whole new economy is now developing based on technologies such as Web 3.0, cryptocurrencies, and non-fungible tokens (NFT). With its latest initiative, KBC wants to enter the new world to confirm its position as a leader in digital banking and insurance.

KBC focuses on private clients and small-to-medium-sized businesses in Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic as a bank insurer. Its customers will be able to acquire Kate coins and use them in their digital wallets and mobile accounts.

The token will be initially available in KBC’s ‘closed loop’ banking and insurance environment. Eventually, it will be introduced across a wider ecosystem that includes some KBC enterprise customers, third parties, and partners that are offering services through the bank’s mobile platform to 1.8 million users.

"Powered by the digital assistant Kate, the Kate Coin will proactively make life easier for our customers throughout the KBC group, today and in the future. The combination of the digital assistant Kate and the Kate Coin will enable KBC customers to save time and money," KBC Group said in a statement published on Thursday.

In 2020, the global investment bank and financial services company JPMorgan launched its own cryptocurrency, JPM Coin, also based on blockchain technology and enabling payments between institutional clients.