Bank of Korea launches 24-hour won settlement pilot for foreign investors
The Bank of Korea’s new network will let foreign investors settle won transactions during business hours in their home countries.
The Bank of Korea has initiated a pilot of its first 24-hour won settlement network for foreign investors, enabling them to settle transactions outside of South Korea's regular banking hours. This initiative, launched on Monday, involves four domestic banks: KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank, and Shinhan Bank. The central bank aims to expand the network's full operations to other institutions and foreign banks by January 2027.
The new network will function 24 hours a day, excluding weekends and public holidays, allowing foreign investors to settle won transactions in their home countries through accounts with Registered Foreign Institutions for KRW Business, or RFI-Ks. The Bank of Korea anticipates that the network will bolster the won's global standing by enhancing foreign investors' access to won settlement infrastructure.
This effort aligns with the bank's ongoing exploration of tokenized settlement infrastructure, including Project Agorá and Project Hangang, which involve the use of tokenized central bank reserves and commercial bank deposits, and a blockchain-based pilot utilizing a wholesale CBDC to settle tokenized commercial bank deposits.
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