Woori Bank to build foreigner-only digital wallet with CES top innovation award winner

Woori Bank signed an MOU with fintech startup CrossHub on Wednesday to improve payment convenience for foreign visitors and jointly develop digital financial services, the bank announced Thursday.

The agreement aims to reduce the friction foreign tourists face when using financial and payment services in South Korea and to strengthen digital banking offerings for foreign customers.

The two companies plan to jointly develop a foreigner-only digital wallet, targeting a launch in the second half of this year. Foreign customers who register their passport information and payment method once will be able to make simple payments across major domestic lifestyle platforms — covering transportation, delivery and shopping — without any additional authentication.

The partners also plan to introduce a foreigner-only prepaid card that visitors can load with their home currency and use while in South Korea.

The two companies will also test a domestic payment environment using foreign-currency-based stablecoins, with the goal of verifying the feasibility of building payment infrastructure that improves convenience for foreign visitors.

CrossHub is a participant in DINNOlab, Woori Financial Group's startup partnership program. The company won the Best Innovation Award at CES 2026, the world's largest consumer electronics show, and was named a "Global ICT Future Unicorn" by the Ministry of Science and ICT, recognition of its technological capabilities.

Woori Bank said it will use the agreement as a springboard to deepen practical collaboration with DINNOlab-backed companies and continue developing new financial service models with innovative startups. Through DINNOlab, Woori Financial Group has identified and nurtured a cumulative total of 219 startups and facilitated 400 billion won (about $263 million) in investment linkages.

"This partnership is aimed at improving financial accessibility and payment convenience for foreign visitors to South Korea," said Lee Chang-hwan, deputy general manager of Woori Bank's Digital Innovation Division. "We will continue to expand collaboration with innovative startups and strengthen our digital financial competitiveness through the demonstration of future financial technologies."