Japanese tourists in Seoul may soon be able to pay for dinner with a yen stablecoin, swiping a card the way they always have. Shinhan Card, one of South Korea’s best-known credit card issuers, has signed a business agreement with two SBI Group entities to test exactly that.
What Shinhan and SBI actually agreed to
The agreement was signed on October 20, 2026, in Tokyo. Shinhan Card’s partners are SBI VC Trade and SBI XDC Network APAC, both part of Japan’s SBI Group.
Shinhan Card President Park Chang-hoon put pen to paper alongside Tomohiko Kondo, Representative Director of SBI VC Trade.
The headline use case is simple. Japanese travelers visiting South Korea would use yen-denominated stablecoins linked to a payment card. For the person at the register, the experience is meant to feel like a normal credit card transaction.
The pilot goes beyond tourist shopping. It will also explore wallet-to-wallet transfers, where users send stablecoins directly between digital wallets.
The third piece is faster cross-border trade settlement between the two countries. That part would run on blockchain technology supplied by SBI XDC Network APAC.
The compliance layer
The PoC will evaluate anti-money laundering (AML) controls and fraud detection systems (FDS) as part of the test.
The commercial rollout of anything tested here depends on meeting regulatory requirements in both Japan and South Korea.
Why tourism is the testing ground
The partnership targets the tourism and trade corridor between the two countries, which recorded more than 10 million visitor movements in the first eight months of 2026.
The project also has backing at the top of Shinhan Financial Group. Chairman Jin Ok-dong has been vocal about strengthening global digital asset frameworks, and he supports the initiative.
What this means for stablecoins and the region
Rather than asking consumers to download a new app or learn a new payment habit, the partners are trying to slot stablecoins into card networks people already trust.
Card-linked spending, wallet transfers and trade settlement together cover consumers, individuals and businesses.
The project cannot be commercialized until it satisfies requirements in both Japan and South Korea. A pilot that performs well technically could still stall if one jurisdiction is slower or stricter than the other.
What to watch next: any results the partners publish from the PoC, especially on AML and fraud detection performance, and any regulatory signals from Tokyo or Seoul on whether yen stablecoin card payments can move beyond the testing phase.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Kaye Quema. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.