SBI DigiTrust has begun testing stablecoin-based remittances and QR payments between Japan and South Korea in partnership with South Korean payment processor NICE Information & Telecommunication and blockchain firm DSRV. The three companies are targeting completion of the verification work by the end of December 2026.
The pilot focuses on a practical checkout flow in which Japanese travelers pay at NICE-affiliated merchants in South Korea by scanning QR codes. According to SBI Group, the test examines how money moves from the Japanese customer to the Korean merchant, what payment instructions are required, how the companies’ systems would connect, and whether the model is commercially viable.
NICE contributes access to roughly 1.2 million merchants across South Korea through its existing payment infrastructure and merchant operations. DSRV is responsible for studying the blockchain architecture needed to support settlement, while SBI DigiTrust handles the Japanese regulatory, financial and digital-asset side of the project. The three-way memorandum was signed at NICE’s Seoul headquarters on September 30, 2026.
The partners have not disclosed which stablecoin will be used. Their announcements do not identify a blockchain, wallet provider, exchange-rate system, settlement currency, or a commercial launch date. The December target is a testing deadline rather than a public launch date, and the findings will be used to decide whether a commercial service makes sense.
Regulation remains part of the test because Japan and South Korea are at different stages in their stablecoin frameworks. Japan already regulates fiat-linked stablecoins as electronic payment instruments under the Payment Services Act, while South Korea is still developing rules for won-linked stablecoins. The Bank of Korea has been increasing research on virtual assets and contributing to policy discussions around KRW stablecoins.
This project is not SBI’s first Japan-Korea stablecoin test. In August, SBI began a separate stablecoin network study using Canton with Nodeinfra. In September, Kyobo Life and SBI completed a yen-won stablecoin payment pilot that tested direct exchange without routing settlement through the U.S. dollar. SBI Remit has also partnered with Fasset on cross-border stablecoin infrastructure, and Ripple and SBI VC Trade launched the dollar-backed stablecoin RLUSD in Japan in June after receiving regulatory approval.
