Park Han-sol reports on Korea's financial regulators, along with fintech and insurance. She previously wrote about the art world, from biennales and exhibitions to fairs and auctions, with a focus on Seoul and the figures shaping the scene. Before joining The Korea Times, she spent a year at ABC News' Seoul bureau, contributing to coverage of major Asia-Pacific events.
Hyundai Card tests stablecoin in live cross-border corporate payment
Hyundai Card headquarters in Seoul / Courtesy of Hyundai Card
By Park Han-sol
Hyundai Card has completed what it said was the first stablecoin-based intercompany payment between overseas subsidiaries of Hyundai Motor, signaling the technology’s potential for broader corporate use, the company said Thursday.
The proof-of-concept testing involved a cross-border payment between Hyundai Motor’s operations in the United States and Mexico. A second trial involving the automaker’s European subsidiaries is scheduled to take place later this month.
According to Hyundai Card, the initiative is significant as it applied stablecoin technology to an actual intercompany settlement at a major multinational, rather than limiting its use to experimental projects led by IT or fintech firms.
In the first pilot, Hyundai Motor America converted $20,000 into the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin and sent it to Hyundai Motor Mexico, where it was converted back into dollars.
Among the partners in the project were stablecoin issuer Tether, blockchain platform Avalanche and blockchain payments infrastructure provider Axiym.
The entire process, from payment to settlement verification, took an average of seven minutes, compared with the three to four hours typically required for conventional bank transfers, the card issuer said.
The project also involved building the operational framework needed to identify and manage potential issues that could arise during live cross-border transactions.
Working with Hyundai Motor, the card issuer reviewed accounting, tax, legal and internal control requirements while designing the settlement structure and operating procedures for transactions between overseas units.
The second pilot in Europe will evaluate not only the practicality of stablecoin-based payments in local currencies but also potential cost savings from lower foreign exchange expenses.
Following the trials, Hyundai Card said it plans to explore broader applications of stablecoins, including settlements, treasury management and fund transfers across Hyundai Motor Group’s global operations.