Global fintech company Hecto Financial is expanding its business into peer-to-peer international remittances beyond business-to-business foreign exchange services.

Hecto Financial said on March 10 it obtained a small-sum overseas remittance licence from financial authorities on March 4. It plans to use it to enter the P2P remittance market, strengthen competitiveness in its existing overseas settlement business and pursue new businesses such as stablecoin settlement.

Hecto Financial will use the licence to target the P2P international remittance market. The overseas remittance market is growing each year, with its size at $3.117 billion (about 4.66 trillion won) in 2022, $3.415 billion (about 5.1 trillion won) in 2023 and $3.454 billion (about 5.16 trillion won) in 2024, according to the Bank of Korea.

In particular, the annual cap on undocumented P2P overseas remittances is set to be applied at $100,000 this year regardless of whether the provider is a bank or non-bank, and fintech companies are expected to accelerate their entry into the overseas remittance market.

Hecto Financial plans to launch an FX remittance platform within the year, offering on a single platform both payment remittances for small merchants and others and P2P remittances. It is also preparing a service combining a digital wallet with FX remittances for individual customers such as foreign residents in South Korea and overseas workers, timed to domestic legislation related to digital assets.

With the new licence, it will internalise FX functions that previously relied on bank infrastructure, strengthening the competitiveness and profitability of its existing overseas settlement services through more efficient transaction structures, lower costs and faster processing. Hecto Financial currently provides B2B FX services such as trade payment settlement for corporate clients and settlement for overseas merchants, based on a separate specialised foreign exchange business licence it already holds. Its overseas settlement service began in 2023 with 6 client companies and has continued steep growth of more than 200 percent a year, surpassing 40 companies at present.

Hecto Financial will use the new licence to prepare in advance for stablecoin institutionalisation. It has already joined USDC issuer Circle's global stablecoin payment and settlement network, CPN, securing cross-border settlement infrastructure using stablecoins. It plans to link digital-asset payments within the institutional framework with FX functions, and build distinctive competitiveness in next-generation finance areas such as stablecoin-based global remittances and STO fund payments.

Hecto Financial CEO Choi Jong-won (최종원) said, "Following our existing B2B FX services for corporate clients, this licence acquisition expands our business into P2P international remittances and completes a full lineup of FX." He said, "Hecto Financial will make a leap into an 'integrated financial infrastructure company' spanning next-generation finance, including fiat remittances as well as stablecoins and tokenised securities (STO) payments."