President Chae Byungdeuk: "QR Payments to Launch in India and Vietnam This Year... Expanding Ecosystem to Singapore, Thailand, and More"

Following the launch of Korea-Indonesia QR payment service last month,

QR payment services to debut in India and Vietnam within the year

"Expansion of discussions with Singapore, Thailand, and others... Service ecosystem to grow"

"From product search to payment with AI"... Leading the financial sector's AX transformation

"This year, QR payment services will be launched in India and Vietnam. We also plan to expand our service network not only with Singapore and Thailand, but also with countries such as Uzbekistan."

Byungdeok Chae, President of the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, is answering questions at a press conference held on the 3rd (local time) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) is taking place. Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute

Byungdeuk Chae, President of the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, held a press conference on the 3rd (local time) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where the Asian Development Bank (ADB) annual meeting is taking place. He announced, "We will actively expand the cross-border QR payment service network, focusing on Asian countries where exchanges with Korea are active and QR payments are widespread."

The Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute decided to launch QR payment services in India and Vietnam within this year, following President Lee Jaemyung's recent visit to both countries last month. To this end, the institute signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for QR payment linkage, and entered into a QR payment connection service agreement with the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS).

Cross-border QR payment services connect the QR payment infrastructures of two countries, allowing users to make QR payments at overseas merchants using their usual applications without separate currency exchange. This is a key project for the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute this year. Each country's clearing institute applies a direct linkage method, enabling settlement without double currency exchange, which often occurred in conventional overseas payment services. President Chae stated, "As a result, users can conveniently make overseas payments at a lower cost compared to existing overseas payment services such as credit cards," adding, "A reduction of up to 2 percentage points per transaction is expected."

With Indonesia, a two-way service already began on April 1. Indonesian users can use their domestic apps to scan QR codes displayed at SeoulPay merchants in Korea, while Korean citizens can use KB Kookmin Bank and Woori Card apps to make QR payments at merchants throughout Indonesia. So far, there have been 400 to 500 inbound and outbound transactions, respectively.

The cross-border QR payment infrastructure is operated as an open platform accessible to banks, card companies, and fintech firms. President Chae noted, "A variety of companies, including Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, Shinhan Card, KB Kookmin Card, GLN, Travel Wallet, ZeroPay, and KB Kookmin Bank, are scheduled to join within this year." He also mentioned that discussions are underway for participation by major big tech companies.

Another major initiative this year highlighted by President Chae is supporting the financial sector's AI transformation (AX). To this end, the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute is reorganizing its structure to focus on AI. President Chae emphasized, "Through a recent organizational restructuring, we have established a dedicated team and set up a comprehensive system to support the financial sector's successful AX," adding, "This reorganization goes beyond simply adopting new technologies, aiming to realign the organization's DNA around AI and lead innovation across the entire financial ecosystem."

The institute is establishing a company-wide 'AI Agent' environment to maximize work efficiency by enabling employees to utilize AI in their daily tasks. It will also significantly strengthen AI talent development programs to support this initiative. The institute is accelerating external support activities aimed at leading the AX transformation across the financial sector. President Chae stated, "We plan to form the Financial Sector AX Alliance (tentative name) within this year, which will include participation from major financial institutions. Through the alliance, we will establish a close cooperation network to standardize AI technologies specialized for finance, share best practices, and foster an AI ecosystem in the financial sector. We also plan to conduct a proof of concept (PoC) for the Agent Payment Platform, a next-generation payment environment where conversational AI seamlessly handles everything from product discovery to payment within a single session, on behalf of consumers, within this year.

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