Mizuho Financial Group, the Japanese leading financial institution, has announced to launch its first stable digital currency in March, targeting public payments and remittance services.

According to the local financial newspaper Nikkei Asian Review, the new “J-Coin” results from a partnership between the megabank and other 60 national financial institutions, which are reportedly holding up to 56 million user accounts. The goal is to link users banking account with the digital wallets.

J-Coin will be stored and controlled by the J-Coin Pay application. Payments can be made by scanning a QR code at the checkout places. The digital currency is launched as a stablecoin, with a unit value equals to 1 yen (~ $0.01). One more selling point that Nikkei has pointed out was the free-charge money transfers between J-Coin wallets to bank accounts.

In the interview with Nikkei, Mizuho CEO Tatsufumi Sakai said:  “the arrival of all these new entrants [into the digital payments space] is eroding the common-sense notion that payment services are provided by financial institutions.”

J-Coin Pay will be available for users of all ages, even 18 or younger. Unlike credit cards, signing up for J-Coin Pay will not require screening.

Aiming at expanding the platform to other retail industry players, Mizuho is setting up partnerships with FamilyMart convenience stores, Bic Camera electronic retailers and East Japan Railway, which are all at the negotiating phases. It is also calling Alibaba’s Alipay in as a strategic partner to gain stores attraction. The goal is set: to achieve minimum 300,000 participating stores and 6.5 million sign-ups in the following few years.