Samsung, LG and SK Begin ‘Summer Blockchain War’

South Korean business conglomerates Samsung, LG and SK are set to begin offering a range of blockchain technology-powered products and services this summer – as they attempt to become the leaders in what could become a very competitive market in the country.

Per Fn News, the “Blockchain summer war” will come to life this month and in August, when the three companies’ de facto blockchain arms – Samsung SDS, LG CNS and SK C&C – launch their commercial operations.

Telecoms giant SK – who earlier this week agreed to make an investment in Joe Lubin’s ConsenSys fund – will strike first. SK C&C last year successfully piloted its Chain Z payment and remittance services, and will open the service to general customers sometime in July.

SK C&C says its platform allows users and vendors to issue and manage “digital tokens” on the Chain Z platform, allowing vendors to issue cash rewards, gift certificates, vouchers, points and mileage to customers. The company says that its Chain Z token issuance operations will be linked to its cloud service Cloud Z.

The same media outlet quotes an SK C&C official as saying,

“In July, we will begin providing services using our blockchain platform. We will be responsible for the platform provision and maintenance, while vendors will provide the commercial services.”

And Samsung SDS is preparing an insurance claims service that lets users make claims from insurance providers. The solution also allows providers to verify claims faster and in real-time through documentation and other evidence shared on the Samsung SDS blockchain platform. The company says the service will allow both insurers and end-users to make and process claims using only their smartphones.

Samsung’s fiercest rival in the electronics sphere, LG, is also planning an August debut for LG CNS’ long-awaited blockchain payments platform – developed in conjunction with commercial bank KB.
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As previously reported, LG has been testing its blockchain operations internally, at the LG Science Park, with company employees said to be involved in a trial possibly making use of an LG digital token of some sort. Now Fn News says that the LG Science Park trial will be extended to allow “affiliate company employees” to take part.

And in August, LG CNS and KB plan to unveil their Community Money Platform product, a service that will allow vendors and customers to make blockchain-powered real-time remittance, settlement and withdrawal transactions.

In 2018, the three companies posted combined revenues of USD 332 billion.