Stablecoin payments for foreign travelers are starting to take shape in South Korea. According to Korea Times, Hana Card on March 5 announced a pilot program with Circle and Crypto.com for overseas visitors. Foreign users holding a Crypto.com Visa card can spend at participating merchants in South Korea, with transactions settled in USDC and a 5% cashback incentive attached.
Payment firms and card issuers move into the same niche
The rollout is spreading across the market. On March 17, Crypto.com partnered with South Korean payment gateway KG Inicis to launch Crypto.com Pay, again aimed at foreign visitors. Payment company Danal also said it will introduce a similar service this month with Circle and Binance Pay, allowing Binance users visiting South Korea to pay with existing crypto holdings while merchants receive settlements in Korean won.
Card issuers are moving as well. BC Card is testing USDC payment technology with Coinbase, while KB Kookmin Card has filed a patent tied to a hybrid payment system combining stablecoins and traditional cards. Korea Times said most major financial players are now competing for position inside the same regulatory opening.
Why foreign users are the workable route
This push comes before South Korea’s Digital Asset Basic Act takes effect. The report says domestic financial groups and international crypto firms are using services for foreign visitors as a way to avoid the restrictions that still apply to crypto payments for local residents, while placing stablecoin infrastructure inside the country’s payment rails.
Moyed Eun, a research analyst at Delta Network, said this is effectively the only workable legal path for stablecoin payments under the current regulatory setup. The key point is the room for interpretation under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act. If foreigners spend dollar-backed stablecoins stored in overseas wallets, those transactions can be treated as foreign-currency payments rather than domestic circulation of crypto assets inside South Korea.
Early infrastructure may matter later
An Kwang-ho, an analyst at Tiger Research, said services for foreign users are functioning as a de facto regulatory sandbox. That gives companies a live environment to test technology and operations before a won-denominated stablecoin is formally introduced.
He said early control over infrastructure and partnerships could become a major competitive edge once a Korean won stablecoin enters the market. In that reading, today’s quiet rollout for tourists is also a race to secure access points for the next phase of South Korea’s payment system.