BGF Retail, which operates CU, said on the 3rd that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hana Bank and the Bank of Korea on the 2nd at the main building of the Bank of Korea in Jung-gu, Seoul, to promote the deposits token pilot project (Project Hangang phase two).

At the signing ceremony were Vice Chairman Hong Jeong-guk and CEO Min Seung-bae of BGF Retail, Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong, Hana Bank President Lee Ho-sung, and other key officials.

On the 2nd at the Bank of Korea headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, key officials including Hong Jung-guk (third from left), vice chairman of BGF Retail; Min Seung-bae (fourth from left), CEO of BGF Retail; Rhee Chang-yong (center), governor of the Bank of Korea; and Lee Ho-sung (fourth from right), president of Hana Bank, attend a signing ceremony for a business agreement to promote a pilot project for deposits tokens. /Courtesy of BGF Retail

Project Hangang is a Central Bank digital currency and deposits token pilot project led by the Bank of Korea in cooperation with the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service. In this second phase, the focus is on expanding points of use so consumers can experience deposits token payment services in everyday life.

BGF Retail will join the pilot by leveraging CU's nationwide network of about 18,800 stores. It improved the existing POS system to minimize additional burdens on franchise owners, and it enabled consumers to make easy payments at CU stores by using deposits tokens linked to their bank apps via barcode or QR scans.

Hana Bank customers can use deposits tokens issued through the Hana One Q app in the same way. It also adds person-to-person transfers, biometric authentication payments, and an automatic conversion feature when the balance is insufficient to improve convenience.

BGF Retail, in partnership with Hana Bank, also plans to sequentially roll out payment benefit programs for customers using deposits tokens.

Through this pilot, BGF Retail aims to create a daily-life payment environment in which convenience stores can establish themselves as digital currency payment platforms.

Vice Chairman Hong said, "This agreement will be a key turning point in which convenience stores, the closest consumption channel in daily life, expand a new payment ecosystem based on digital currency," adding, "CU will continue to scale innovative services that blur the boundaries between finance and retail, backed by the largest infrastructure nationwide."

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