KB Kookmin Bank is preparing to add blockchain-based payments to its cross-border banking services, with South Korea’s largest lender set to launch a new payment network for corporate import and export clients in August 2026.

The service will make KB Kookmin the first financial institution in South Korea to use J.P. Morgan’s Kinexys platform for commercial payment services. At launch, the system will support U.S. dollar transactions across 10 countries and will connect blockchain-based settlement with the bank’s existing SWIFT payment infrastructure.

Kinexys to connect with existing banking rails

KB Kookmin announced the service on July 26 after signing a blockchain remittance agreement with J.P. Morgan. The first phase will cover U.S. dollar payments involving South Korea, the United States, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India, Thailand, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and South Africa.

The bank has not disclosed customer fees, transaction limits, or the precise launch date in August. It said the platform is intended to support companies engaged in overseas trade, supplier payments, and foreign exchange settlement.

The blockchain payment service is not designed to replace SWIFT. Instead, it will integrate Kinexys with existing correspondent banking infrastructure, allowing payment messages and compliance procedures to remain in place while blockchain technology is used for settlement. That structure is significant for banks because cross-border corporate payments still depend heavily on established messaging, correspondent relationships, and regulatory screening, even as institutions test faster settlement layers.

J.P. Morgan describes Kinexys as a blockchain platform that supports payments, tokenization, and near-real-time settlement.

The platform has already expanded into multiple markets. In June, J.P. Morgan introduced blockchain deposit accounts denominated in Australian dollars, Hong Kong dollars, Japanese yen, Chinese yuan, and Singapore dollars. The move increased Kinexys’ supported currencies to eight and enabled round-the-clock payments and programmable treasury functions.

KB Kookmin continues blockchain initiatives

The planned payment launch follows several digital asset initiatives across KB Financial Group. In June, KB Kookmin completed a $100 million digital bond issuance through HSBC’s Orion platform, using blockchain technology across issuance, registration, trading, and settlement.

The two-year U.S. dollar bond settled in three business days, compared with the five days required under the previous process.

According to a Cryptopolitan report, KB Kookmin is also taking part in South Korea’s government-backed tokenized deposit project. The Ministry of Economy and Finance selected nine banks, including KB Kookmin, to test tokenized deposits tied to public-sector spending in the fourth quarter of 2026.

That project will connect the government’s Digital Budget and Accounting System with a distributed ledger network that records transactions while enabling programmed spending conditions.

Earlier this year, KB Kookmin Card also announced plans to develop a hybrid stablecoin credit card system with Avalanche and OpenAsset. The proposed design would allow customers to spend stablecoins from blockchain wallets while automatically drawing on a traditional credit line if wallet balances are insufficient.

Institutional blockchain settlement activity expands

KB Kookmin was South Korea’s top bank in the 2026 Asia Pacific bank review by S&P Global Market Intelligence, which covered 28 banks. The lender had assets of roughly $552.76 billion, according to the review.

The new payment service is being introduced as institutional use of blockchain settlement continues to expand from pilots and tokenized asset workflows into bank-operated payment products. J.P. Morgan, Mastercard, Ripple, and Ondo Finance recently conducted a cross-border test of U.S. Treasury redemption, using Kinexys to process payment instructions and settle in U.S. dollars, while the tokenized asset was transacted on the XRP Ledger.

J.P. Morgan has also introduced Kinexys with other institutions, including Qatar National Bank, Axis Bank, Mitsubishi Corporation, and EBANX. In July, EBANX said it had reduced local banking time for cross-border transfers from more than 24 hours to minutes.