Jeonbuk Bank becomes first Korean regional bank to deploy Ripple Payments

Ripple has announced a partnership with JB Jeonbuk Bank to deploy Ripple Payments for cross-border business remittances, making the regional lender the first bank of its kind in Korea to use the service.

The integration is designed to replace slower traditional international transfers, which typically move through multiple intermediary banks and can take days to settle, with 24/7 payments that can settle within seconds to minutes.

According to Jeonbuk Bank’s president, Park Choon-won, the partnership supports the bank’s ambition to become a digital finance leader and expand beyond its traditional regional banking role.

“This partnership will become a new growth engine for the bank, and we will lead innovation that reshapes the financial paradigm, going beyond the adoption of new technology,” he said.

Jeonbuk Bank will use the infrastructure to offer faster and more transparent remittance services to global business customers, including import-export businesses, technology startups and online content creators.

“Regional banks play a vital role in the real economy. As the first regional bank in Korea to deploy Ripple Payments, Jeonbuk Bank is extending near real-time cross-border settlement directly to the businesses it serves, and this is a meaningful step for Korea’s broader financial ecosystem,” Ripple’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Fiona Murray, said.

The announcement follows two other Ripple deals with major Korean financial institutions this year. Kyobo Life Insurance is working with Ripple on the potential on-chain settlement of tokenized government bonds, while Kbank is deploying an institutional wallet-as-a-service infrastructure through Ripple Custody.

Ripple said the three partnerships reflect the expanding range of digital-asset use cases being pursued by Korean financial institutions, spanning payments, tokenized assets, custody and wallet infrastructure.