Foremost South Korean financial institutions have rolled out a number of services incorporating blockchain tech, in recent weeks. These services are particularly in the domains of KYC procedures and security.
Nevertheless, the banks are not looking into a significant part of blockchain, which is virtual assets, says a prominent Korean advocate of digital currency. In order to assess the Korean blockchain space, it is important to understand how the development affects existing players and the cryptocurrency and digital asset market.
On May 27, the first bank to be established on the peninsula, Shinhan Bank incorporated blockchain into its lending services. Shinhan bank’s “Blockchain Verification System” permits consumers to obtain evidential documents on private enterprises.
Furthermore, one of the biggest banks in the country, KB Kookmin Bank signed an MoU with blockchain firm Atomrigs Lab, as per previous crypto media reports. Notably, the aforementioned partnership is designed to explore cryptocurrency management and protection solutions.
What’s more, KB Kookmin has signed a Memorendum of Understanding with LG Corp., and is presently developing a combined product at this time, being called Magok Pay.
It is to be noted that the payment system using LG CNS’ technology, the IT subsidiary of the umbrella company, is intended at permitting consumers to pay with tokens on their smartphones without a bank card or cash. The retail lender will pay the amount and manage the transactions in fiat, in turn. Notably, it was ranked the world’s sixtieth largest bank in 2017 based on Tier one Capital.
Korean Banks and Distributed Ledger Technology
Furthermore, NH Savings Bank has initiated to offer a P2P financial certificate service, since April. This is intended to thwart the tampering of records of receivable principal and interest. Lately, it has also started a new training course to some of its workforce to brush them up to be well-versed in DLT systems.
It is to be noted that both NH Savings bank and KB Kookmin came under regulatory inspection last year from Korea’s FSS. The financial watchdog, in its joint review of the banks, condemned their management of virtual asset transactions in regard to AML regulations.
Another household name, KEB Hana Bank started offering its blockchain-based payment system called GLN in Taiwan in April.
Interestingly, the bank also plans to roll out debit cards that double as ID cards to university students, later this year.
What do you think about the aforementioned positive developments in the Korean Blockchain space? Do let us know in the comments below.
Image by Ethan Brooke from Pixabay
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