KSNET settles payments in won when foreign patients pay with stablecoins

[Provided by Shinhan Bank]
[Provided by Shinhan Bank]

Shinhan Bank said Wednesday it has completed a proof-of-concept test for stablecoin-based payment and settlement in partnership with payment service provider KSNET.

The pilot was designed to assess whether domestic medical institutions could handle overseas stablecoin payment demand while continuing to use their existing settlement systems.

The test was conducted as a limited trial at a Seoul-based medical institution using an overseas stablecoin mobile payment service.

Under the payment and settlement structure, a foreign patient pays medical fees in stablecoins, an overseas regulated operator converts the funds into fiat currency and remits them to Korea, and KSNET then disburses the amount to the medical institution in won.

Shinhan Bank used the process to examine how domestic financial infrastructure could be linked to receive the payments and complete won-denominated settlements.

A key feature of the pilot was that neither the domestic participating institutions nor the medical facility needed to hold or trade digital assets directly — stablecoin payments were accepted without requiring them to manage any digital assets themselves.

The setup allowed medical institutions to accommodate new payment demand without the burden of managing digital assets, while foreign patients could pay their medical bills through the overseas mobile payment services they already use.

All transaction records from payment through to settlement were also logged electronically to enhance transparency.

"For a new payment method to be used in real transactions, it is important to consider not only user convenience but also how the receiving business handles the process," a Shinhan Bank official said. "We will build on this pilot experience to develop concrete payment and settlement services that corporate customers can put to use."

Meanwhile, Shinhan Bank is also participating in the Bank of Korea's pilot program for a won-based international payment network, which launched last month.


hyuk@heraldcorp.com