Ripple Lands First Korean Regional Bank Deal with Jeonbuk Bank

Ripple has landed its first Korean regional bank partnership with Jeonbuk Bank, which will deploy Ripple Payments for cross-border remittances. The deal marks a major milestone in Korea's adoption of Ripple technology.

According to the agreement, traditional bank transfers through the SWIFT network take days and pass through multiple intermediaries, but Ripple Payments replaces this with settlement completing in seconds to minutes, running 24/7. This partnership targets Jeonbuk Bank's global business customers, including import-export companies, IT startups, and online content creators who need faster and cheaper international transfers.

Fiona Murray, Ripple Managing Director for Asia Pacific, noted that regional banks play a vital role in the real economy and that this partnership extends near real-time settlement directly to the businesses Jeonbuk Bank serves. Meanwhile, Jeonbuk Bank President Park Choon-won added that the deal positions the bank as a digital finance leader meeting global standards rather than just a regional lender.

The partnership is part of Ripple's growing presence in Korea, with this being its third major Korean partnership this year. The other two deals cover different parts of the market: Kyobo Life Insurance and Kbank.