Woori Bank said on Thursday it recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Nol Universe and Kona I to provide financial services based on a prepaid card for foreign customers.

The partnership aims to improve payment convenience and access to financial services for overseas tourists visiting South Korea. The three companies plan to jointly introduce a prepaid card service for foreign customers. They aim to launch the service in April and plan to link systems and build partnership infrastructure.

The service will be offered through Nol Universe's travel, ticket and experience platform, NOL World. It will include products combined with K-performance tickets and tourism packages that are in high demand among foreigners, as well as a standard product that allows customers to buy only the card.

Through Kona I, which has domestic card payment infrastructure, the card will support transport card functions as well as payments at online and offline merchants. It will also provide special benefits at major merchants frequently used by foreign tourists.

Woori Bank plans to issue prepaid cards at Incheon Airport currency exchange counters so foreign tourists can use the card immediately after entering the country. It also plans to offer what it called the industry's highest-level exchange rate preferential benefits for domestic use. The bank also plans to support currency exchange and top-up services through its unmanned exchange machines and ATMs to improve convenience.

Ko-woon Kim (김고운), deputy head of Woori Bank's foreign exchange business division, said: "As demand from foreign tourists continues to increase, we have 마련했다" and "We will continue to expand financial services for global customers, using this partnership as an opportunity."