Image credit: news1.kr

 

Jeonbuk Bank, one of South Korea’s commercial banks, has partnered with Ripple to enhance cross-border remittances and enable real-time transaction settlements.

 

The partnership is aimed at eliminating common bottlenecks associated with the settlement of transactions by traditional institutions, which often involve several intermediaries. 

 

 

Through the partnership, Jeonbuk Bank plans to leverage the real-time settlement capabilities of Ripple’s blockchain infrastructure, reducing the settlement time for cross-border remittances from minutes to seconds while enabling 24/7 operations.

 

“With this partnership with Ripple, JB Jeonbuk Bank is ready to move beyond its role as a regional bank and emerge as a digital finance leader that meets global standards,” said Park Choon-won, President of JB Jeonbuk Bank. 

 

“This partnership will become a new growth engine for the bank, and we will lead innovation that reshapes the financial paradigm, going beyond the adoption of new technology.”

 

Ripple’s partnership with Jeonbuk Bank isn’t the first of its kind with a South Korean institution. In April of this year, Ripple partnered with KBank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank. The partnership aimed to enable KBank to more securely manage its digital assets while leveraging Ripple’s blockchain infrastructure for cross-border remittances.

 

That same month, Ripple also partnered with Kyobo Life Insurance, one of South Korea’s leading life insurance companies. Through the partnership, Kyobo leveraged Ripple’s blockchain infrastructure to tokenize government bonds.

 

Institutional Adoption Continues to Grow

 

Despite South Korea’s tightening regulation around crypto, institutional involvement in the sector continues to grow rapidly in the country.

 

According to a report from Tiger Research, a South Korean crypto research firm, well over 195 crypto-related partnerships involving approximately 150 institutions had been tracked as of mid-year, with many of these partnerships revolving around stablecoins and cross-border remittances, custody, security token offerings, and real-world asset tokenization.