KB Kookmin Bank, South Korea’s largest lender, will launch a blockchain-based cross-border payment service using J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys platform, becoming the first financial institution in South Korea to use the network for corporate import and export settlement.

The service will support U.S. dollar payments for corporate customers through KB Kookmin Bank’s domestic branches and its Singapore branch. It will initially cover ten markets: South Korea, the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and South Africa. The initial market list gives the service a trade-focused footprint across Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States, aligning the rollout with corporate settlement needs rather than consumer-facing crypto services.

Yonhap News Agency reported that the service is scheduled to begin next month under a partnership between KB Kookmin Bank and Kinexys. Once operational, it will allow companies operating across different regions to settle transactions through J.P. Morgan’s blockchain-based payment network.

The launch places KB Kookmin Bank within a broader shift among South Korean financial firms toward blockchain infrastructure for institutional financial services. Industry participants have increasingly explored distributed ledger-based systems as a way to improve payment efficiency and reduce settlement times, while financial institutions have expanded partnerships with technology providers offering programmable payment capabilities.

KB Kookmin expands blockchain payment initiatives

The Kinexys rollout adds to KB Kookmin Bank’s wider blockchain strategy across financial operations. Earlier this year, KB Kookmin Card announced plans to develop a hybrid stablecoin payment model in partnership with Avalanche, extending the group’s blockchain activity beyond traditional banking products and into payment services.

J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys business unit supports programmable payments, asset tokenization, and near-real-time settlement for institutional clients. Through the partnership, KB Kookmin Bank will introduce blockchain-based settlement infrastructure for cross-border corporate transactions.

South Korea’s payments sector has also seen other blockchain-related initiatives. In April, payment service provider NHN KCP signed a memorandum of understanding with Ava Labs to build a payments-focused Layer 1 blockchain network.

These projects reflect rising interest among South Korean financial companies in applying blockchain technology to commercial payment services. Rather than focusing on retail cryptocurrency trading, the initiatives are aimed at business payment infrastructure, including systems designed to support faster settlement while operating within existing financial regulations.

As corporate payment providers continue to pursue faster settlement systems, partnerships between banks and blockchain technology companies have become more common in international payment markets. KB Kookmin Bank’s adoption of J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys network establishes South Korea’s first blockchain-based corporate trade settlement service on the platform and highlights the country’s growing focus on blockchain-powered infrastructure for institutional cross-border transactions.