South Korea’s largest card processor, BC Card, has wrapped up a two-month pilot that let foreign users pay at domestic merchants with stablecoins — a potentially significant step toward mainstreaming crypto-based cross-border payments. What happened - The pilot, announced Tuesday, was run with blockchain financial firm Wavebridge, overseas digital wallet provider Aaron Group, and remittance fintech Global Money Express. - Foreign customers converted stablecoins held in overseas wallets linked to the project into digital prepaid cards. That prepaid balance could be spent at participating Korean merchants by scanning a QR code — no physical card or manual currency exchange required. - BC Card plugged stablecoin settlements into its existing card authorization and settlement systems using the digital prepaid card as the intermediary. The company says this lets both customers and merchants pay and accept funds “the same manner as with conventional card payments.” Why it matters - BC Card President Choi Won-seok highlighted stablecoins’ strengths for cross-border use, saying their technical properties make them “particularly useful for cross-border payments” and that they could improve the domestic payment experience for foreign consumers. - The company framed the pilot not as a short-term tech demo but as part of building a stablecoin payment architecture ready for upcoming legal and regulatory shifts in Korea. Regulatory backdrop - The pilot comes as lawmakers and regulators continue debating how won-pegged stablecoins should be issued and governed. The long-awaited second phase of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act — which will address issuance and distribution rules for won-denominated stablecoins — has been delayed. - The Financial Services Commission (FSC) missed a Dec. 10 deadline to submit the government’s integrated bill to the National Policy Committee after failing to reconcile differences with the Bank of Korea (BOK). The crux: both authorities agree financial institutions must play a role in stablecoin issuance, but they differ on how large that role should be. - The BOK has pushed for a consortium of banks to hold at least 51% of any approved stablecoin issuer, while the FSC warns that a bank-dominated model could deter tech firms and curb innovation. - Officials say the government’s proposal is expected to be announced by early next month at the latest, with the integrated bill required to be submitted by January 2026. An FSC official added there will be a public explanation of the proposal when it goes to the National Assembly. BC Card’s next steps - BC Card pledged to deepen cooperation with relevant agencies and to continue refining a “Korean-style stablecoin payment infrastructure” that complies with domestic rules. The company intends to leverage its card network to gradually roll out a stablecoin payment model aligned with Korea’s legal framework. Bottom line The pilot shows major payments incumbents are experimenting with stablecoin rails to simplify cross-border payments for visitors and remitters — and positioning themselves ahead of a pending regulatory framework that will determine how such systems operate in Korea. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news