Shinhan Card Tests Yen Stablecoin Payments

Attending the signing ceremony, from left, Tadashi Yoshida, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of SBI XDC Network APAC, Park Chang-hoon, President of Shinhan Card, and Tomohiko Kondo, Representative Director of SBI VC Trade, pose for a commemorative photo after signing the business agreement. (Photo provided by Shinhan Card) An era in which travelers moving between South Korea and Japan can pay conveniently with yen stablecoins, and companies can settle trade payments through blockchain instead of complex international remittance networks, is coming into view. Shinhan Card signed a business agreement with 'SBI VC Trade,' the operator of Japan’s largest digital asset exchange, and blockchain company 'SBI XDC Network APAC' to expand the global Web 3.0 payment ecosystem. At the signing ceremony held at SBI Group headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 20, key officials including Park Chang-hoon, President of Shinhan Card, and Tomohiko Kondo, Representative Director of SBI VC Trade, discussed specific cooperation measures. The core of the agreement is a proof of concept (PoC) to introduce stablecoins into actual payment and settlement areas. The three companies will first begin verification of a yen stablecoin card payment service. The process is intended to determine whether, by linking stablecoins to cards, visitors to Japan can make payments in the same way as with existing credit cards. In addition to technical convenience, the financial security system will also be subject to review. The companies plan to closely examine whether stablecoin payments can operate safely from a risk-management perspective, including anti-money laundering (AML) and Fraud Detection System (FDS) controls. They will also jointly review ways to incorporate blockchain technology across finance, including wallet-to-wallet (W2W) payments and participation in the XDC Network node ecosystem. Changes are also expected in the business-to-business (B2B) sector. Through a PoC on cross-border trade settlement using stablecoins, the three companies decided to seek a settlement method that is faster and more efficient than existing international remittance networks. The initiative is expected to take concrete shape through collaboration with SBI XDC Network APAC, which has blockchain infrastructure specialized in trade finance. Shinhan Financial Group, which signed an agreement with Visa in August for digital asset and AI-based payment businesses, is set to strengthen its position in the East Asian digital payments market through this cooperation with the Japanese financial group.