Bank of Korea boosts access with 24-hour won pilot

The Bank of Korea has launched its first 24-hour won settlement network pilot, allowing foreign investors to settle Korean currency transactions outside the country's conventional banking hours.

• Four Korean banks joined the pilot, while foreign banks are scheduled to participate from January.
• The network runs 24 hours on business days, closing only during weekends and public holidays.
• Foreign investors can settle won through RFI-K accounts without opening accounts at Korean financial institutions.
• South Korea processed the pilot's first transaction worth roughly 1.4 billion won on Monday morning.
• Project Agorá and Project Hangang continue testing tokenized reserves, deposits, and cross-border settlement infrastructure separately.

The Bank of Korea said in its September 21 announcement that the Bank of Korea Won International Wire Network began trial operations on Monday as part of South Korea's plan to improve offshore access to the won. The pilot started at 9 a.m. with KB Kookmin Bank, Woori Bank, Hana Bank and Shinhan Bank participating.

Full operation is scheduled for January 2027, when foreign banks are expected to join the network. The system will operate continuously from 9 a.m. on one business day until 9 a.m. the next, while weekends and public holidays remain excluded.

Foreign investors using the new system can settle won transactions through accounts held with Registered Foreign Institutions for KRW Business, known as RFI-Ks. They do not need to open a separate account directly with a domestic Korean financial institution to use the settlement network.

South Korea's central bank began testing a system for round-the-clock won payments, laying the groundwork for greater foreign access to local markets https://t.co/m4DbfFSy5m --- Bloomberg (@business) September 21, 2026

Revised foreign-exchange rules published days before the pilot allow registered foreign institutions to open omnibus accounts at Korean foreign-exchange banks and process won settlement through the Bank of Korea network. The Finance Ministry said the changes form part of the government's plan to make offshore won transactions less dependent on time and location.

Under the model, an overseas investor can hold or transact won through a registered institution in its home market while the underlying settlement is completed through the central-bank infrastructure. The Korean authorities introduced RFI-K access as part of changes designed to make the domestic foreign-exchange market more accessible to international participants.

The BOK said "the network is expected to improve foreigners' access to won settlement infrastructure, eventually enhancing the currency's international standing." The statement represents the central bank's policy expectation for the system, not a measured outcome from the pilot.

Four banks begin pilot with 1.4 billion won test

KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana and Shinhan are the first banks participating in the trial phase. South Korea plans to bring foreign financial institutions into the network after the January launch, following roughly three months of testing.

The first reported test transaction took place at around 9:30 a.m. Monday between two participating domestic institutions. SBS reported that the payment was worth approximately 1.4 billion won, equivalent to roughly $1 million at current exchange rates.

The BOK described the platform as its first settlement network designed to operate around the clock on business days. Existing Bank of Korea payment infrastructure has traditionally followed domestic operating hours, while the new service is structured around the working hours of overseas investors.

During the pilot, the central bank plans to monitor the system while making operational and technical changes before the January rollout. The BOK said it intends to improve the network, expand participating institutions and maintain continuous monitoring as full operation approaches.

January launch fits Korea's won internationalization plan

The settlement system is one part of South Korea's larger Won Internationalization Roadmap, published by the Finance Ministry with the Bank of Korea and other agencies in July. The roadmap calls for round-the-clock foreign-exchange access, offshore won accounts, easier capital transactions and settlement infrastructure available outside Korea.

South Korea had already moved its domestic foreign-exchange market toward 24-hour trading before the settlement pilot started. The new network addresses the payment side of that policy by allowing offshore participants to complete transactions during their own local business hours instead of waiting for Korean banks to reopen.

The roadmap permits foreigners to conduct won transactions through overseas institutions registered with Korean authorities. Government documents describe examples in which investors could use won accounts at overseas branches of global banks for Korean bond investments, remittances and other financial services.

The authorities are pairing easier access with liquidity and monitoring measures. The roadmap says domestic banks can provide temporary won funding when overseas institutions face shortages, while the government and central bank may provide further liquidity when necessary. Regulators plan to monitor offshore won conditions as international use expands.

The BOK had outlined the network's September pilot schedule in July, when it confirmed the four participating banks and said full 24-hour operation would begin in January. At the time, the central bank said the project could improve access to Korean settlement infrastructure and support South Korea's efforts to attract more international investment.

Project Agorá and Hangang test tokenized settlement separately

The new international wire network does not use the same structure as the Bank of Korea's blockchain-based digital-money projects. The BOK has been developing separate tokenized settlement infrastructure through Project Hangang and the Bank for International Settlements-led Project Agorá.

In July, the Bank of Korea completed live cross-border payment tests under Project Agorá using tokenized central-bank reserves across multiple currencies. As crypto.news previously reported, South Korean banks tested settlement workflows that included a 20 million won transfer between NongHyup Bank and Shinhan Bank using tokenized reserve funds.

The trial connected Project Hangang with the Agorá environment to test how tokenized central-bank money and commercial-bank deposits could interact in cross-border payments. The BOK said further test scenarios would follow as Project Agorá expanded its real-value transaction work.

Project Hangang has developed along a separate domestic path. As crypto.news reported in March, the second phase expanded participation from seven banks to nine and introduced deposit-token features including peer-to-peer transfers, biometric approvals and government subsidy payments.

Government agencies later began a 9.6 billion won program to connect deposit tokens with existing payment infrastructure. In related crypto.news coverage, the project brought together nine banks, eight payment companies and two large merchants to test how deposit tokens could work with existing retail payment systems.

The Bank of Korea's latest payment systems report, published Sept. 17, said the institution had extended BOK-Wire+ operating hours, built the new international won network and adopted ISO 20022 as part of efforts to strengthen cross-border connectivity. The report said the central bank was simultaneously studying virtual assets, won-based stablecoins and tokenized settlement systems.

Project Hangang remains based on a wholesale central-bank digital currency used beneath commercial-bank deposit tokens, not a retail CBDC issued directly to consumers. The second phase has expanded to nine participating banks while testing transfers, payments and government-linked use cases.

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