Shinhan Card has teamed up with the Solana Foundation to test a new type of payment system using stablecoins on blockchain technology.
The idea is simple: see how everyday payments could work if they ran on the blockchain instead of traditional systems.
The company has already started early testing using Solana’s test network. In these trials, they are simulating real-life situations where customers pay merchants using stablecoins. The goal is to check how fast, stable, and practical these payments are in real-world conditions.
Shinhan Card says it is also carefully looking at security, especially for non-custodial wallets. These are wallets where users fully control their own funds, without a bank holding them. The company wants to make sure these systems are safe enough before scaling them up.
Another focus is combining traditional finance with decentralized finance (DeFi). Shinhan Card is exploring systems where blockchain tools and real-world banking can work together, instead of replacing each other.
They also plan to use “oracle” technology. This helps bring real-world data into the blockchain, so smart contracts can react to real events like prices, payments, or transaction updates.
A senior executive at Shinhan Card said the company wants to understand how blockchain can actually fit into future financial services, not just in theory, but in real use.
The project will also follow upcoming crypto rules in South Korea, where lawmakers are working on a major new law called the Digital Asset Basic Act. This law is expected to shape how digital assets are used and regulated in the country.
At the same time, other banks in South Korea are also testing blockchain systems. Some are working on cross-border payments, while others are joining government-backed trials that use tokenized deposits for public spending.
These wider efforts show a clear trend: banks and regulators in South Korea are slowly moving toward blockchain-based financial systems, starting with controlled tests before full adoption.
