This week’s edition of Finovate Global showcases recent fintech news from South Korea.
Gwangju Bank and Toss announce stablecoin QR payment PoC
Korea’s Gwangju Bank announced that it had successfully completed proof of concept (PoC) for stablecoin-based QR code payments in partnership with Seoul-based superapp Toss. The PoC linked the Gwangju Bank mobile app, the Toss app, and Toss Place payment terminals. Selecting stablecoin payment in the bank app opens the QR scanner in the Toss app, where the user can scan the QR code displayed on the merchant’s payment terminal to verify the payment amount and complete the transaction.
The demonstrated flow was designed to transfer stablecoins from the customer’s wallet to the merchant’s wallet. The payment result could then be verified in the Gwangju Bank app, completing the app-to-app payment process. The PoC used a virtual merchant, and no actual customer data or assets were involved.
The two entities added that they plan to streamline the process by reducing the number of steps customers must take. The bank and fintech are also discussing a second phase of testing involving actual merchants in the Jeonnam and Gwangju regions.
“The PoC conducted with Toss is significant in that it established a technological foundation to proactively respond to the digital asset payment environment and verified the user experience from a customer perspective,” Gwangju Bank Vice President Byun Mi-Kyung said.
Gwangju Bank is a regional South Korean financial institution and a subsidiary of JB Financial Group. Founded in 1968, the bank reported total assets of approximately KRW 34.4 trillion ($54 billion) at year-end 2025. It operates branches in Gwangju, Jeonnam, Seoul, Incheon, and Seongnam.
Founded in 2015 as a money transfer service, Toss has grown into one of Korea’s leading superapps with 30 million users. Toss offers an ecosystem of more than 100 financial management and e-commerce services, along with more than 10,000 mini apps through its Apps in Toss platform, which runs within the Toss app.
Canton Foundation forges strategic partnership with LG CNS
In a bid to expand institutional adoption of the Canton Network in Korea, the Canton Foundation has announced a strategic partnership with Seoul-based IT services provider and systems integrator LG CNS. Together, the Canton Foundation and LG CNS will develop technical capabilities to support Canton implementation as help build a broader technical partner ecosystem.
“Korea is a critical market for institutional adoption of Canton in Asia,” Canton Foundation Head of APAC Thomas Chou said. “This partnership is about building the market together, combining Canton’s growing institutional ecosystem with LG CNS’s deep technology capabilities and relationships across the Korean financial sector. Together, we aim to help institutions move from identifying opportunities to implementation, while building the broader technical ecosystem needed to support adoption at scale.”
The Canton Network is a public, permissionless blockchain designed specifically for institutional finance, while individual applications can define their own permission requirements. Announced in 2023, the network’s mainnet went live in July 2024. It was designed to balance blockchain transparency with the confidentiality required by regulated financial institutions and markets. Canton operates as a modular blockchain ecosystem in which participating institutions maintain their own ledgers while connecting with others via a shared synchronization layer. Canton’s “network of network” architecture enables real-time secure synchronization and settlement, atomic transactions that ensure that complex exchanges involving multiple parties are completed in full or not at all, and privacy for sensitive financial information.
The partnership between the Canton Foundation and LG CNS will focus on three areas: institutional market development, technical enablement and implementation, and technical partner ecosystem growth. LG CNS has been a major player in Korea’s blockchain-based financial industry since 2015. Beginning with the issuance of blockchain-based electronic securities, the company has built the infrastructure for the issuance, distribution, settlement, and trading of digital assets such as CBDCs, tokenized deposits, security tokens, and stablecoins, as well as digital wallets and KYC systems for financial institutions. LG CNS has also built and operated core systems for major commercial banks, insurers, credit card companies, and securities firms for more than 30 years.
“Financial institutions are increasingly moving from exploring blockchain technology toward practical implementation,” said LG CNS EVP and Head of Digital Business Division Hongkeun Kim. “Through our partnership with Canton Foundation, we look forward to combining LG CNS’s technology and implementation capabilities with the Canton ecosystem to develop meaningful opportunities with institutions in Korea. We also look forward to contributing our experience to the development of a broader technical partner ecosystem that can support institutional adoption over the long term.”
The Canton Foundation is the advocacy and expansion arm of the Canton Network. The organization is dedicated to expanding the network’s reach and promoting broader institutional adoption.
Korea Fintech Industry Association announces new anti-hacking strategy
In response to a series of suspected, AI-assisted cyberattacks and data leaks that struck at least seven major South Korea financial institutions in recent weeks, the Korea Fintech Industry Association brought fintech firms and electronic payment providers together this week to discuss the importance of coordinated data-sharing and early risk checks to enhance their defense against cyberattacks.
Kim Jong-hyun, chairman of the association, said recent cyber incidents should not be viewed as problems affecting individual companies alone, but as threats to public confidence in financial services as a whole. His remarks underscored the need for coordinated information-sharing and greater cooperation with regulators to strengthen security. The chairman also emphasized the importance of building systems that will enable teams to identify risks early and respond proactively.
The discussion also covered the Financial Supervisory Service’s (FSS) IT security self-inspection checklist, which the country’s Financial Services Commission has asked firms to use. The 12-point checklist addresses threat intelligence and blocklists, system abnormality detection, access controls and vulnerabilities, system hardening, and incident investigation.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Czech fintech Dateio secured its biggest contract to date thanks to a partnership with ING.
- Bulgaria’s Fibank partnered with Bitpanda Enterprise to integrate crypto investing into its My Fibank app.
- Poland’s mBank introduced BLIK Recurring Payments, the ninth bank in the country to offer the service.
Middle East and Northern Africa
- Valley National Bank acquired Israeli fintech Bluevine for $340 million.
- Diebold Nixdorf announced that it will deploy cash recyclers for digital wallet and mobile payments company stc pay Bahrain.
- US-based money transmitter Viamaericas has added Ethiopia and Morocco to its remittance network.
Central and Southern Asia
- TBC Uzbekistan launched its first secured lending product for SMEs.
- India’s Pine Labs introduced a unified payments platform for merchants in Singapore.
- DK Bank to establish a subsidiary in the UAE, becoming the first Bhutanese bank to expand its financial services offering internationally.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Brazilian fintech Asaas raised $55.6 million in new funding to supports its payment, financial management, and credit tools for small businesses.
- SoFi Tech Solutions (formerly Galileo) teamed up with Orbi and Mastercard to launch a crypto-linked card in Mexico.
- Latvia’s Regula and Chile’s Bernini.ai announced a partnership to provide ID verification for AI agents.
Asia-Pacific
- South Korea’s Gwangju Bank and fintech Toss successfully completed a proof of concept involving stablecoin payments using QR codes.
- Vietnam’s MB Bank partnered with OceanBase to modernize its database infrastructure.
- The Korea Fintech Industry Association announced new anti-hacking measures in the wake of series of recent cybersecurity incidents involving financial services companies.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Pan-African payments aggregator PawaPay secured a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license from the Bank of Mozambique.
- South Africa’s WalletDoc launched Visa Payment Passkeys for merchants in the country.
- Pan-African neobank Mukuru introduced its new account and card in South Africa, in partnership with Bank Zero and Mastercard.
Photo by Ayyeee Ayyeee
