New Finance Innovators: Shinhan Bank
The two main banks in Korea that have been very supportive of blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies have been Shinhan and Woori Bank. Therefore they have become the true innovators in Korea. They are the ones that realize that the Fintech space will be changed forever with these new and innovative technologies.
Shinhan made the announcement in early January that they will start looking into the development of a bitcoin cold wallet. The next month they had successful test runs with the Ripple network for cross-border payments.
Shinhan Signs MOU with OmiseGO
Now in April Shinhan is making news again with their partnership with OmiseGO. OmiseGO is an Ethereum-based banking and payments platform. Hopefully, this partnership can accelerate the adoption of blockchain technologies in Korea. Therefore, ultimately they are looking to make a platform that can facilitate a decentralized economy. In addition, the OmiseGO platform is being made using a public network that is powered by Ethereum.
Those that are looking to use the wallet SDK can use it now. In addition, their first test run will test to see if it will make it easy for users who need online asset exchanges as part of their business to connect to the OmiseGO Network.
Shinhan will continue to look to use Omise and their blockchain technologies in different areas within Shinhan’s banking operations. Furthermore, their first step could come from Shinhancard which should be able to use blockchain technologies in their credit card applications. Therefore, this will make Shinhan Bank the first major credit card company in Asia to use blockchain technology into their service.
Omise will be able to settle transactions for Shinhan merchants using the OmiseGO blockchain. Then later the Ethereum blockchain. This collaboration between these two parties will bring together Omise’s innovative payment technologies and solutions with Shinhan’s mobile SDKs that can onboard e-wallet providers. Look for more news coming out of Shinhan as they are clearly leading the way in fintech innovation in Korea. The other banks seem to just be sitting back and are in a wait and see mode.
