South Korea's Gwangju Bank and Toss test stablecoin QR payments

What happened

Gwangju Bank and Toss finished a proof of concept that lets customers pay with stablecoins by scanning a QR code. The work connected Gwangju Bank's mobile banking app, the Toss app and Toss Place merchant terminals, Yonhap News reported on Oct. 8. A customer chooses the stablecoin option in the bank app, which opens the QR scanner inside Toss. The customer scans the code shown on the merchant's Toss Place terminal, checks the amount and approves the payment. The stablecoins then leave the customer's wallet and arrive in the merchant's wallet. The customer can open the bank app again to see the result.

Gwangju Bank Vice President Byun Mi-kyung said the project built a technical foundation that helps the bank respond to changes in digital asset payments. She said the trial also let the companies judge the payment experience from the customer's side.

The partners are preparing a second proof of concept that aims to cut the number of steps a customer takes before buying something. They are also talking about more tests with real merchants in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions. No date has been announced for the next trial.

Why it matters

The test arrived while South Korean banks widen their stablecoin payment experiments and lawmakers get ready to review new digital asset legislation in November. The Financial Services Commission said in September that it will review the country's second-stage digital asset legislation in November. The National Assembly is expected to examine the proposed framework, and lawmakers aim to finish that second-stage legislation during 2026.

For Toss, the QR trial sits alongside several other blockchain payment projects this year. In July the company worked with Optimism and Sunnyside Labs on a three-month program that studied infrastructure for won-denominated stablecoins. The same month, Circle signed an agreement with Toss to look at USDC payments, digital wallets and programmable payments. In June, Toss Bank partnered with the Solana Foundation.

Other banks are running their own tests. Shinhan Financial Group partnered with Visa in August to build stablecoin payment infrastructure. The Bank of Korea has backed a plan in which bank-led groups would issue won-denominated stablecoins first. Talks still include disagreements about the roles of banks and fintech firms.

What the data shows

KB Financial Group's May trial covered won-denominated stablecoin issuance, offline QR payments and remittances. It included a transfer to Vietnam that finished in under three minutes, with fees about 87% lower than usual methods.

Background

• Circle signed a separate agreement with Kakao Group, and neither of those agreements has launched a commercial product.
• Toss has taken part in several other blockchain payment projects this year, and Gwangju Bank's trial follows that work with its banking affiliate.

What is still unclear

• No date has been announced for the next trial, which the two companies are still preparing.
• Gwangju Bank has not announced a commercial launch date for a stablecoin payment service.
• Gwangju Bank has not identified which stablecoin a future public service would support.
• Talks still include disagreements about the roles of banks and fintech firms.

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