On October 1, 2025, SBI Digital Trust Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of SBI Holdings, officially signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea's payment service provider NICE Information & Telecommunication and South Korean blockchain infrastructure company DSRV to jointly validate the commercialization of cross-border transfers and payments between Japan and Korea using stablecoins. According to reports from ME News, Odaily Planet Daily, and BigGo Finance, the validation will focus on the use case of Japanese tourists making QR code payments at NICE-affiliated merchants in Korea, exploring stablecoin-based cross-border payment solutions. The three parties will primarily validate fund transfer mechanisms, payment instruction protocols, and system integration methods, with the validation expected to be completed by December 31, 2026.
NICE Information & Telecommunication brings significant infrastructure to the partnership, operating payment services across South Korea and supporting approximately 1.2 million merchants nationwide. As reported by ME News, Odaily Planet Daily, and BigGo Finance, the current verification uses NICE-affiliated merchants as the test setting, though neither company has confirmed that all 1.2 million locations will participate. NICE will examine merchant operations, connections with existing payment systems, and the business case for stablecoin settlement, providing the partners with insights into how blockchain-based transfers could integrate with Korean store payment infrastructure. The partnership will primarily validate the use case of Japanese tourists making payments via QR code at NICE-affiliated merchants in Korea.
DSRV is responsible for verifying the blockchain technology and system architecture required for stablecoin transfers, studying system design, stablecoin requirements, and connections between blockchain infrastructure and existing partner systems. According to ME News, Odaily Planet Daily, and BigGo Finance, the verification will examine transaction size and cost alongside technical feasibility, with findings used to determine whether a commercial service makes sense. The project addresses regulatory differences between Japan and South Korea, as Japan already regulates fiat-linked stablecoins as electronic payment instruments under the Payment Services Act, while South Korea's won-linked stablecoin framework remains under development. The three parties stated they will evaluate future commercialization pathways based on the validation results and continue exploring stablecoin use cases in alignment with evolving regulatory frameworks in both countries.
The December 31, 2026 completion target serves as a testing deadline rather than a public launch date, with the partners using remaining months of 2026 to map the complete payment process from Japanese users to Korean merchants. As reported by ME News, Odaily Planet Daily, and BigGo Finance, the work will cover fund movement, payment and settlement instructions, system connections, transaction costs, and operational scale for future services. SBI Digital Trust will lead the payment solution design, leveraging its experience in Japanese regulatory and financial frameworks, while NICE Information & Telecommunication will provide its merchant network and payment operations expertise. The companies will identify operational and regulatory issues that would need addressing before commercialization, with findings serving as material for future business decisions once verification concludes. The movement toward full-scale adoption of stablecoins for retail settlement between Japan and South Korea remains in its early stages, but this framework could serve as a bellwether for the future of international settlement.
