KB Kookmin Bank Taps JPMorgan's Kinexys for Cross-Border Payments

Korea's largest bank, KB Kookmin Bank, is introducing a new cross-border payment service that uses JPMorgan's Kinexys blockchain platform. The service will allow import and export businesses to send US dollars across borders to 10 countries. This marks the first time a South Korean financial institution has used Kinexys for commercial payments.

The service covers remittances in USD between South Korea, the US, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and South Africa. It will provide programmable payments and near real-time foreign exchange settlements, integrating with existing infrastructure like SWIFT. Banks don't need to replace their current systems to use it.

KB Kookmin and JPMorgan had previously signed a memorandum of understanding focused on blockchain-based remittance innovation. The August 2026 launch is the first concrete product to emerge from that partnership.