South Korea launches the second phase testing of its CBDC project, adding transfer functionality and more participating banks

ME News — On July 15 (UTC+8), according to the Financial Services Commission website in South Korea, the Financial Services Commission approved five innovative financial service projects at its July 15 regular meeting. Among them, the second phase of the deposit token payment settlement test within South Korea’s bank CBDC system (the “Han River Project”) has officially been advanced: Gyeongnam Bank and iM Bank were added as participating institutions, and the designated scope for the original seven banks (Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, Nonghyup, Industrial, and Busan) was upgraded. Key changes include: the maximum number of deposit-token wallets expanded from 100k to 500k; the holding limit per wallet increased from 1 million KRW (total 5 million KRW) to 10 million KRW (total 100 million KRW); in addition to existing payment functions, a transfer function was added, and a direct payment method was enabled through smart contracts.

The meeting also approved a low-interest loan service jointly offered by Kakao Bank and Busan Bank for SMEs and self-employed business owners, as well as Naver Financial and Orange Square’s prepaid card service for foreign tourists visiting Korea (limit 1 million KRW). The latter does not require going through South Korea’s local identity verification process. (Source: Foresight News)