South Korea's KB Financial completes stablecoin pilot for offline payments

KB Financial Group, the parent company of South Korea's largest bank, KB Kookmin, completed a stablecoin pilot for offline payments and cross-border remittances through the Kaia blockchain.

KB tested the lifecycle of a South Korean won-denominated stablecoin, including issuance, merchant settlement and remittances, with Kaia, electronic payments company KG Inicis and fintech firm OpenAsset, local outlet Yonhap reported.

The stablecoin pilot adds to the growing list of legacy financial institutions in South Korea experimenting with stablecoins. In late April, one of the nation's largest credit card providers, Shinhan Card, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to test stablecoin payments.

KB Kookmin is South Korea‘s largest bank with over 584.9 trillion won ($266.7 billion) in total assets, according to the bank’s factbook for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Source: Kaia

Stablecoin test reduced remittance fees by 87%

As part of KB Financials experiment, a won stablecoin was converted into a US dollar stablecoin and delivered to a bank account in Vietnam.

The full transfer was completed in under 3 minutes, with an 87% fee reduction compared to the same transaction executed through the SWIFT network, a Kaia spokesperson told Cointelegraph in an email.

The SWIFT network is the messaging network for international payments used by thousands of banks and financial institutions worldwide.

The offline payment test was executed through Seoul-based coffee franchise Hollys, enabling users to pay through QR codes, without needing to install a cryptocurrency wallet.

Related: Vietnam eyes Q3 launch for regulated crypto asset market: Report

KB plans stablecoin services launch after regulations take effect

KB is reportedly preparing to launch stablecoin services once digital asset regulations are established in the country.

But the countrys proposed Digital Asset Basic Act has repeatedly stalled due to disagreements between regulators over who should be allowed to issue stablecoins.

The Bank of Korea, the nations central bank, has argued that banks should retain majority ownership of stablecoin issuers, while the Financial Services Commission warned that strict limitations could slow innovation.

Formal deliberations are unlikely to resume before South Koreas June local elections.