Toss, Gwangju Bank complete stablecoin QR payment proof of concept
Toss, a South Korea-based fintech company, announced that it has completed a proof of concept (PoC) with Gwangju Bank for stablecoin-based QR code payments. The test examined a payment scenario in which a Gwangju Bank customer uses stablecoins at an offline store through the Toss app. The structure links the two companies’ apps, allowing customers to pay with stablecoins in physical stores while settlement with the merchant is completed at the same time.
How payment and settlement work
Under the tested flow, a customer starts the payment in the Gwangju Bank app by selecting the stablecoin payment option. The linked Toss app then opens automatically, and the payment proceeds when the customer scans a QR code. The bank app therefore serves as the entry point for the customer, while the Toss app handles the payment step at the store.
Settlement is structured so that the payment amount goes directly to the merchant. The transfer is processed without an intermediary step, and payment and settlement are both confirmed at the moment the transfer is completed. As a result, no separate settlement procedure is required after a payment is made, and the merchant receives the funds as part of the transaction itself rather than through a later settlement process.
Second round of testing to involve real merchants
The verification was conducted in an environment separate from the companies’ commercial services. Toss and Gwangju Bank set up a virtual merchant and ran the payment flow without using customer information or real assets. The exercise focused on confirming that the payment and settlement processes worked as designed, rather than on testing customer usage or transaction volumes.
Based on the results, the two companies are preparing a second round of verification. They plan to streamline the payment process to reduce the number of steps customers need to complete, and to discuss the scope of a test involving actual merchants. The next phase would move the testing from a virtual setting to real merchant locations, bringing the stablecoin payment structure closer to use at physical points of sale.
