Shinhan Card Partners with Solana for Stablecoin Payments, DeFi Infrastructure
Shinhan Card, one of South Korea's largest credit card providers, has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Solana Foundation to test stablecoin payment technology and the use of non-custodial wallets in an advanced proof-of-concept (PoC).
Following a joint pilot project completed in early April, the new partnership will conduct a more “advanced” PoC to explore the commercial feasibility of stablecoin payments for merchants and customers seeking an improved payment experience, Shinhan Card announced Thursday.
The collaboration explores the development of a “hybrid finance model” that combines traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) infrastructure.
The move shows that South Korea's second-largest credit card issuer is exploring the implementation of blockchain technology to improve retailer payment interoperability.
Shinhan Card is South Korea's second largest credit card issuer with a 16.9% market share, followed by Samsung Card's 17.02% market share in March, according to KED Global.
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Shinhan Card to develop Defi services based on smart contract
According to Shinhan Card, the ultimate goal of the collaboration is to independently explore DeFi-related services, a technology that uses blockchain oracles to connect information in offchain and onchain environments.
The credit card giant said it will investigate the “performance stability” of smart contracts, self-executing, digital agreements written in code that are used to execute transactions.
On April 9, Shinhan Card said it has completed a successful POSI with the Solana Foundation in six key areas, including blockchain-based peer-to-peer payments, digital asset integrated payment infrastructure, stable check and credit hybrid products, stable coin-based cross-border remittance and settlement, stable coin payments and IC chip-based card payment services for crypto wallets.
According to Shinhan, the early POS will connect existing fiat-based payment systems with the digital asset ecosystem to find new business models to “increase customer convenience in the payment and settlement areas” and strengthen competitiveness in “next-generation financial markets.”
Other large stablecoin issuers exploring stablecoins for improved payments and settlements include Visa, Mastercard and BC Card.
One of the most advanced examples is Visa, which launched USD Coin (USDC) settlement services on the Solana blockchain in December 2025 for some US-based financial institutions.
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