Korean Banks Flock to Ripple at XRP Seoul as Cross-Border Payments Boom

Four major Korean banks, Kbank, Kyobo Securities, Woori Bank, and Jeonbuk Bank, joined Ripple on a panel at the XRP Seoul 2026 conference. The session was titled 'From Cross-Border Payments to Tokenized Deposits' and drew a crowd of over 5,000 people. This year's event saw a significant increase in attendance, with over 5,000 attendees compared to 3,000 the previous year.

Kbank, which serves as the sole banking partner for Upbit, signed a deal with Ripple in April and has already launched a wallet app-based remittance system. The bank is also testing onchain transfers to countries such as the UAE and Thailand using Ripple's Palisade wallet software.

Kyobo Securities, which is part of the same group as Kyobo Life Insurance, partnered with Ripple in April to tokenize government bond settlement through Ripple Custody. The pilot aims to reduce the usual two-day settlement cycle to near real-time.

Woori Bank, which has no announced deal with Ripple, was a surprising addition to the panel. The bank recently partnered with Moonpay, focusing on won-pegged stablecoins and cross-border corporate payments.