An unnamed Shinhan Card official has commented as follows:
“Services using those key functions of credit cards will be extended to the blockchain-based system, a notable advancement from the status quo whereby most blockchain-based services available are limited to cash wiring or user identification for online transactions.”
The official also clarified that the company has received patent about one-and-a-half-years after performing a viability study and that the company is presently working to receive patents in the European countries, Japan, Vietnam, the US and Indonesia. The system may soon facilitate cardless transactions through mobile app.
The approaches may result in dismantling the three level intermediaries, namely credit card companies, a Payment Gate and a value-added network service provider. Value-added networks connect credit card firms and member retailers to validate and authorize transactions, while the payment gate processes the payment.
Crunchbase, a website providing enterprise related information, has stated that Shinhan Card is the top rated credit card provider of South Korea and Owler is the corporate analytics service provider with annual revenue of $841.60 million.
Notably, South Korea’s top firms have partnered together to unveil a blockchain-powered mobile identification mechanism in 2020. By the end of June, Crypterium, a crypto payment processing startup, headed by ex-Visa executive, disclosed that the firm has dispatched roughly 4,000 crypto debit cards within a week after the card’s launch.