"Government Subsidies Now as Deposit Tokens"... LG CNS Joins Phase 2 of 'Project Han-gang'

Deposit Tokens Introduced for Public Fiscal Execution

A World First

LG CNS announced on April 6 that it will participate in the second phase of "Project Han-gang," a pilot project led by the Bank of Korea to test institutional digital currency and deposit tokens.

In this phase, the project will pursue the application of "deposit tokens," which are bank deposits converted into tokens, not only for real transactions by the general public but also for the execution of government subsidies.

LG CNS headquarters building. LG CNS

Project Han-gang is a collaborative initiative involving the Bank of Korea, the government, and the banking sector, aiming to verify whether deposit tokens can be used as a means of payment and fiscal execution, and to link these efforts to eventual commercialization. LG CNS, which participated as the main operator in the first phase, will continue its role in the second phase, overseeing the operation and advancement of the digital currency system.

The core focus of the second phase is to lay the groundwork for the commercialization of deposit tokens. In particular, the application of deposit tokens in public fiscal execution, such as government subsidies, is the first of its kind in the world.

Specifically, the government is reviewing a method of providing subsidies for the electric vehicle charging infrastructure project, scheduled to begin in the first half of the year, in the form of deposit tokens. This will be used to verify the stability and scalability of the system.

If subsidies are distributed as deposit tokens, every stage from execution to final settlement will be recorded on the blockchain in real time, enhancing transparency. Additionally, digital vouchers based on deposit tokens can be pre-configured with restrictions on usage, period, and amount, ensuring they are used only for their intended purposes.

Prior to the launch of the second phase, LG CNS has completed the development of new features to increase the convenience of using deposit tokens, including biometric authentication, peer-to-peer transfers, and automated deposit and withdrawal of deposit tokens. As a result, the number of banks and merchants where general consumers can use deposit tokens is expanding. In addition to the existing participants—KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, NH NongHyup Bank, and BNK Busan Bank—BNK Kyongnam Bank and iM Bank have also expressed their intention to join.

Consumers can convert their bank deposits into deposit tokens and make payments at designated online and offline stores using QR codes. The network of participating merchants will expand to include convenience stores, supermarkets, coffee shops, bookstores, and more. Deposit token-based payments can reduce the number of intermediary payment steps, thereby lowering commission fees for merchants, which is expected to help both large businesses and small merchants reduce costs. For consumers, it is expected to offer greater efficiency in terms of payment convenience and security.

Honggeun Kim, Executive Vice President and Head of the Digital Business Division at LG CNS, said, "We will continue to enhance digital currency infrastructure that can be stably utilized for public finance and everyday life. We will also proactively support the implementation of various innovative services centered on deposit tokens."

Meanwhile, LG CNS is strengthening its technology development and research on next-generation digital payment methods in collaboration with the Bank of Korea. Last year, the company demonstrated a system in which agentic artificial intelligence (AI) autonomously carried out the entire commerce process using deposit tokens as a means of payment.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.