Kbank, not Jeonbuk Bank, is leading South Korea’s Ripple Payments push

South Korea’s banking sector is inching toward blockchain-powered cross-border payments, with Ripple at the center of the conversation. But the latest claims circulating on social media about Jeonbuk Bank (JB Bank) deploying Ripple Payments to replace SWIFT don’t line up with what’s actually been confirmed. What has been verified: Kbank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, announced a partnership with Ripple on April 27, 2026, to pilot blockchain-based remittances. That’s a real development with real implications. The Jeonbuk Bank story, on the other hand, lacks any public announcement, press release, or verifiable sourcing. What we actually know about Ripple in South Korea Kbank’s partnership with Ripple targets specific remittance corridors, including Korea-UAE and Korea-Thailand. Ripple Payments, the company’s enterprise cross-border settlement product, promises instant transfers without the need for pre-funding correspondent accounts. In the traditional SWIFT model, banks need to park capital in accounts at intermediary institutions across the globe. That ties up liquidity. Jeonbuk Bank, meanwhile, has been active in its own fintech experiments. In November 2023, the region...