Ripple announced a partnership with South Korea’s Jeonbuk Bank to deploy Ripple Payments for real-time cross-border remittances, making it the first regional Korean bank to offer blockchain-based international settlement.
The collaboration will enable Jeonbuk Bank to offer faster, more transparent, and cost-effective remittance services to its global business clients, including import-export companies, IT startups, and online content creators. The deployment targets corridors where transfers have historically taken days, bringing near real-time settlement to businesses in Korea’s regional banking sector.
Ripple’s Third Korean Partnership This Year
The Jeonbuk Bank deal marks Ripple’s third Korean banking partnership in 2026, following agreements with Kyobo Life Insurance and Kbank. The expanding footprint signals growing institutional appetite for blockchain-based payment infrastructure in one of Asia’s most active crypto markets.
Fiona Murray, Managing Director of Asia Pacific at Ripple, said the partnership reflects “the growing momentum we are seeing across Korea’s institutional financial sector, where leading financial institutions are embracing blockchain-based solutions for cross-border payments.”
Jeonbuk Bank President Park Choon-won said the lender is “ready to move beyond its role as a regional bank and emerge as a digital finance leader that meets global standards.” The bank, officially known as JB Jeonbuk Bank, operates primarily in the Jeolla provinces of southwestern Korea.
Korea’s Banking Sector Embraces Blockchain Settlement
The partnership builds on a broader wave of Korean financial institutions integrating blockchain settlement. Kbank signed a strategic Ripple partnership in April to test blockchain-based overseas remittances, while KB Kookmin Bank is preparing to launch Kinexys-powered cross-border payments for corporate clients in August.
Korea’s top five crypto exchanges have seen trading volumes decline sharply in the first half of 2026, but institutional blockchain adoption continues to accelerate. Ripple’s approach of partnering with traditional banks rather than crypto-native platforms positions it to capture demand from Korea’s export-heavy economy, where efficient cross-border settlement is a daily operational need.
The deployment at Jeonbuk Bank is significant because regional lenders in Korea have typically lagged behind major metropolitan banks in adopting new financial technology. By bringing Ripple Payments to a regional institution, the partnership could set a precedent for smaller Korean banks seeking to modernize their remittance infrastructure without building proprietary blockchain systems.
Sources: Ripple press release; The Block; CryptoSlate; Korea Herald
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