Korean Banks Join Forces with Ripple at XRP Seoul 2026

Four South Korean lenders joined Ripple on stage at XRP Seoul 2026 in front of over 5,000 attendees. The event drew a larger crowd than last year's 3,000-plus attendees and took place at the Grand Hyatt Seoul during Korea Blockchain Week. Kbank, Kyobo Securities, Woori Bank, and Jeonbuk Bank were part of the panel titled 'From Cross-Border Payments to Tokenized Deposits.' The session saw representatives from these banks alongside Ripple's President Monica Long and Senior Vice President Markus Infanger.

Kbank is an internet-only lender that serves as the sole banking partner for Upbit. It has grown significantly, increasing its user base from 2 million in 2020 to 15 million by the end of 2025. Kbank partnered with Ripple in April and has since tested a wallet app-based remittance system, moving on to onchain transfers to countries such as the UAE and Thailand using Palisade wallet software.

Kyobo Securities is part of the same group as Kyobo Life Insurance, which collaborated with Ripple in April to tokenize government bond settlement through Ripple Custody. This pilot targets near real-time settlement, replacing the usual two-day cycle. The experiment's success may be a precursor to Seoul's plans to open its market to tokenized stocks and bonds in 2027.

Woori Bank is an unexpected addition, as it has no announced deal with Ripple. However, just four days before XRP Seoul, it partnered with Moonpay to focus on won-pegged stablecoins and cross-border corporate payments. Jeonbuk Bank, on the other hand, became the first regional bank in Korea to deploy Ripple Payments in August.