South Korean Woori Bank Tests Ripple For Money Transfering

Woori Bank in South Korea has completed a cross-border remittance test using San Fransisco-based distributed ledger technology startup called Ripple.

The completion of the trial arrives as the bank’s Digital Strategy Department reveals plans to commercialize the Ripple-based platform this year, according to local business media source ChosunBiz. There is also marked the second phase of the trial, which followed the earlier test in January.

The report says, that the bank’s participation in DLT payments comes as part of a wider effort, that has seen another 60 or so Japanese banks, which joined the trials initiated by SBI Group.

A joint venture between Ripple and financial giant SBI Ripple Asia previously had said in last September it would begin testing cross-border payments over Ripple’s solution between Japanese and South Korean banks by the end of 2017. The purpose of the effort was to bring DLT into real use and roll out new efficiencies to banks’ cross-border transactions removing middlemen banks out of the business.

According the September report, the group involved notable banks from Japan, including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group.

ChosunBiz points that there are other non-Japanese institutions involved, including South Korean Woori and Shinhan banks, as well as Siam Commercial Bank of Thailand.