[DigitalToday reporter Ji-young Lee] Hana Bank said on Thursday it signed a three-way business agreement with the Bank of Korea and BGF Retail to push ahead with "Project Hangang" Phase 2, a tokenised-deposit pilot.

The agreement marks an expansion stage of the tokenised-deposit pilot that the Bank of Korea is jointly 추진ing with the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service. The core is to use Hana Bank-issued tokenised deposits for real payments at CU convenience stores.

"Project Hangang" Phase 2 aims to expand the scope beyond payment functions to uses including public finance execution. Another feature is that it is linked to the government’s roadmap for digital execution of national treasury subsidies.

Hana Bank will run the payment pilot based on the CU convenience store network operated by BGF Retail. Users will be able to use tokenised deposits linked to the Hana OneQ mobile app at about 19,000 CU stores nationwide through barcode or QR methods.

Biometric authentication will be applied in the payment process. The system also includes an automatic top-up function from a bank account when the balance is insufficient, and it will also introduce person-to-person transfer functions to broaden usage.

BGF Retail built the payment environment using its existing point-of-sale system without bearing additional costs. That is expected to enable an effectiveness test of digital payment adoption without extra investment by franchise stores.

Hana Bank and BGF Retail have continued cooperation across various areas, including win-win finance cooperation and joint 추진 of digital projects. Participation in the latest project is also seen as an extension of that cooperation.

Hana Bank CEO Ho-sung Lee (이호성) said the agreement would expand the tokenised-deposit-based payment model and provide tangible benefits to both small business owners and consumers. He said the bank would continue to push ahead with building financial infrastructure that can respond to changes in the digital payment environment.