South Korea's KB Kookmin Bank to launch cross-border payment service on JPMorgan's Kinexys: report

KB Kookmin Bank, the largest bank in South Korea, plans to launch a blockchain-based cross-border corporate payments service using Kinexys by J.P. Morgan, according to local media reports.

Yonhap News Agency reported Sunday that the bank is set to roll out the service next month under a partnership with Kinexys. It will become the first Korean financial institution to use Kinexys' blockchain payment network for corporate import and export settlements, per the report.

The service will be available through the bank's domestic branches in South Korea and its Singapore branch. Initially, the bank plans to prioritize U.S. dollar transfers across 10 countries: South Korea, the U.S., Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain and South Africa, according to the report.

KB Kookmin has been expanding its presence in blockchain-based payments. In March, KB Kookmin Card, one of the country's largest credit card companies, announced that it is building a hybrid stablecoin payment model with Avalanche. 

Kinexys is J.P. Morgan's blockchain business unit that enables programmable payments, asset tokenization, and near-real-time settlement for institutional clients.

Meanwhile, NHN KCP, a South Korean payment service provider, also signed a memorandum of understanding in April with Ava Labs to develop a payments-focused Layer 1 network.