Strategic MOU covers stablecoins, B2B payments

Banks, card unit, Jeju Bank to join group-wide collaboration

Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong (left) and Visa President Chris Newkirk pose for a photo after signing a strategic MOU at Shinhan Financial's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Monday to advance future financial projects in digital assets, AI-based payments and B2B transactions. [Shinhan Financial Group]
Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong (left) and Visa President Chris Newkirk pose for a photo after signing a strategic MOU at Shinhan Financial's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Monday to advance future financial projects in digital assets, AI-based payments and B2B transactions. [Shinhan Financial Group]

Shinhan Financial Group announced Wednesday it will work with global payments company Visa to verify core stablecoin functions — including issuance, remittance and redemption — and jointly design a Korea-specific business model.

Shinhan Financial signed a strategic MOU with Visa on Monday at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, to cooperate on future financial projects spanning digital assets, AI-based payments and business-to-business transactions. The move is widely seen as an effort to get ahead on applying global payment networks to real financial services, as the National Assembly is set to begin full-scale discussions on stablecoin regulation in the second half of this year.

The two companies plan to first use Visa's stablecoin platform to verify core functions such as issuance, remittance and redemption, then jointly design a business model tailored to the domestic financial environment. The agreement builds on a direction for future financial cooperation that the two companies' executives discussed in April.

They will also pursue joint pilots and service development aimed at applying stablecoins to financial services such as credit card payment settlement, building an AI-based next-generation payment model, and expanding B2B and business-to-consumer payment operations.

Shinhan Financial plans to combine the financial capabilities of its key subsidiaries — including its banking and card units and Jeju Bank — with Visa's global payment network and digital technology to keep pace with changes in the domestic and international digital finance landscape.

"Through this agreement, we have expanded our long-standing partnership with Visa into the broader digital finance space," Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong said. "We will combine Shinhan's financial capabilities with Visa's global infrastructure to design new future finance models and offer customers a differentiated financial experience."


forest@heraldcorp.com