South Korean online bank Kbank has signed a strategic partnership with blockchain payments company Ripple to test blockchain-based overseas remittances.
According to to local media such as News1, The Korea Herald and Maeil Business, Kbank CEO Choi Woo-hyung and Fiona Murray, Ripple’s managing director for Asia Pacific, signed the agreement at Kbank’s headquarters in Seoul. The bank said the partnership will apply Ripple’s global network and blockchain infrastructure to test whether foreign transfers can be made faster, cheaper and more transparently.
The companies are already carrying out staged technical verification. According to reports, the first phase tested a separate app-based remittance structure, while the second phase involved digitally connecting customer accounts and internal systems to test the stability of remittances. According to local reports, it includes onchain transfers to countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Thailand.
The partnership comes at a time when South Korean financial firms are testing cross-border blockchain-based payment infrastructure, while the country’s regulations on stablecoins and digital assets remain under discussion.
South Korean companies are preparing for stablecoin rules
South Korea is considering how to regulate stablecoins as part of broader digital asset legislation. On April 8, South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party drafted a bill that would classify stablecoins as foreign currency payment instruments and require tokenized real-world assets to be backed by fiduciary assets.
Citing the integrated draft of the proposed Basic Law on Digital Resources, Seoul Economic Daily earlier reported that stablecoins used in cross-border transactions will be treated as “means of payment” under the country’s Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.
Related: South Korea is tightening exemptions for cryptocurrency withdrawal delays following fraud-related losses
The political backdrop may explain why stablecoin and blockchain payments ties are accelerating before the rules become final. Banks, card issuers and payment companies appear to be testing infrastructure, partners and apply cases while avoiding full market rollout before legislation is in place.
On March 16, Hana Financial Group, one of the largest financial conglomerates in South Korea, signed a business agreement with the British Standard Chartered Group for cooperation in various sectors, including currency exchange and digital assets.
The South Korean conglomerate also earlier cooperated with publisher USDC Circle and major US cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com to promote stablecoin-based payments for foreign visitors to the country, according to The Korea Times.
March 5 Asia Business Daily reported that South Korean payment company Danal will officially launch its digital asset payment service for foreign visitors in Korea in cooperation with Binance Pay.
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