Korea's Kookmin Bank and Coinplug team up to explore blockchain remittance applications

South Korea’s Kookmin Bank is developing a blockchain solution for international remittances, aiming to enable “faster and safer” foreign exchange services.

For the initiative, the commercial bank said it is working with local bitcoin startup Coinplug.

National Bank explained in a statement that currently, banks need to send cross-border remittance transactions through the SWIFT network, but the use of blockchain technology can avoid intermediary services, reduce costs and bring benefits to customers.

A spokesperson for the bank said:

“Blockchain technology is a new trend and we are trying to adopt this technology to plan to upgrade our services and further provide our customers with more secure and comfortable financial services.”

Kookmin Bank, the largest subsidiary of Kookmin Financial Group, earned more than 1.4 trillion won ($1.16 billion) in revenue from more than 30 million customers in 2014, according to its annual report.

Blockchain Verification

In the same announcement, National Bank also announced plans to develop an “overseas funds transfer and data storage service” that can be used for verification when users open online banking accounts. The bank said this new product will also be based on distributed ledger technology.

Coinplug, which offers a variety of bitcoin services in South Korea, such as an in-store card program and the ability to purchase digital currencies through standard ATMs, has raised at least $8 million in funding since its founding in 2013.

Original article: http://www.coindesk.com/korean-bank-developing-blockchain-solution-foreign-exchange/
By Daniel Palmer
Translator: Overnight porridge
Source (translation): Babbitt Information (http://www.8btc.com/korean-bank-coinplug)