Stablecoins can cut costs of cross-border payments: Woori Financial digital chief

Woori Financial Group is exploring global partnerships to expand stablecoin-based cross-border payments as the government moves toward regulating digital assets.

“Companies with overseas subsidiaries constantly need to send money abroad,” Ok Il-jin, executive vice president of digital innovation at Woori Financial, said in an interview with Herald Business in Seoul. “Stablecoins can significantly shorten settlement times and reduce transaction costs.”

The group is reviewing ways to integrate stablecoins into corporate financial services, particularly cross-border payments and supply chain finance.

One potential application is Woori Bank’s digital supply chain finance platform Wonbiz Plaza, where stablecoins could be combined with smart contracts to automate payments between buyers and suppliers, speeding up settlements and improving transaction transparency.

To support such services, Woori Financial is also seeking partnerships with overseas digital asset companies, including cryptocurrency exchanges that can provide liquidity for international transactions.

“We are currently discussing cooperation with several global partners,” Ok said, adding that details will be finalized depending on the final business model.

The initiative reflects growing interest among financial institutions in using stablecoins to streamline international payments, an area where traditional bank transfers remain slow and costly.

Woori Financial is also participating in Project Pax, a Korea-Japan pilot program testing stablecoin-based cross-border remittances for business transactions.

Ok said expanding global partnerships will be key to building a stablecoin ecosystem that supports issuance, circulation and real-world usage.

“Our goal is to develop practical use cases that companies can adopt in real business environments,” he said.

By Herald Business reporters Kim Eun-hee and Kyoung Ye-eun (ehkim@heraldcorp.com) (kyoung@heraldcorp.com)

Edited by Korea Herald Business Desk Editor Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)

The original Korean version of this story is available at:

“우리금융, 스테이블코인으로 송금비용 낮출것…해외 제휴 검토”

https://biz.heraldcorp.com/article/10690860?sec=002