South Korea's Shinhan Financial Group and Visa have signed a strategic agreement to test stablecoin issuance, remittance, redemption, and business-to-business and business-to-consumer payment applications, according to the partnership announced August 26, 2026.
The test will run on Visa's platform and cover both domestic and cross-border payment flows. Shinhan, one of South Korea's largest financial institutions by asset size, will serve as the issuer and operator of the stablecoin pilot, while Visa provides settlement and payment infrastructure. The deal marks the first formal stablecoin experiment by a major Korean bank in partnership with a global payments network.
Shinhan has roughly 19 trillion won in total assets as of the latest regulatory filing and operates retail banking, investment banking, and insurance operations across South Korea and internationally. Visa processes payments for hundreds of millions of cardholders globally and has been expanding its blockchain and digital currency partnerships since 2021. The company announced its own stablecoin framework in 2023 and has since signed partnerships with financial institutions in multiple countries to test digital currency settlement.
The test agreement does not specify a stablecoin denomination, transaction volume target, or end date for the pilot phase. South Korea's Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service oversee stablecoin activity and digital asset issuance. In May 2024, the FSS issued guidelines on stablecoin supervision that required issuers to hold sufficient reserves and obtain approval for new issuances, creating a structured pathway for bank-backed digital currency pilots.
Singapore's Monetary Authority completed a digital currency settlement trial with banks in 2023 and has since licensed digital payment token issuers. Thailand's central bank conducted a wholesale CBDC trial in 2022 and announced retail CBDC testing in 2024. South Korea's central bank has separately pursued its own digital won research since 2020, conducting offline trials in 2023.
Shinhan's move follows an earlier announcement by KB Financial Group, another major Korean bank, which partnered with blockchain firm Dunamu in 2024 to research stablecoin infrastructure. Kakao Bank, a digital-only retail bank, has also explored digital asset custody and settlement partnerships. Shinhan's choice of Visa over domestic platforms or consortium models prioritizes cross-border payment interoperability as a primary use case.
The partnership between a systemically important Korean bank and a major global payments processor lowers regulatory friction for the pilot and provides Shinhan with international settlement rails. If Shinhan completes the test and applies for FSS approval of a production stablecoin issuance, the outcome will establish a template for other Korean financial institutions considering similar initiatives.
