South Korea's KFTC plans AI agent payment platform and financial sector alliance

South Korea's Financial Regulator Plans AI Agent Payment Platform

The Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC) is restructuring to build infrastructure for AI-driven payments, where conversational agents handle product search and transactions without requiring separate apps.

KFTC Chairman Chae Byung-deuk announced the plan during the Asian Development Bank annual meeting in Uzbekistan on May 3. The institute will establish a dedicated AI transformation unit and retrain staff to support financial sector adoption of AI agents.

Building Internal AI Infrastructure

KFTC plans to deploy an AI agent environment across its operations and strengthen training programs for AI specialists. The organization will simultaneously overhaul business processes to support AI-centered work.

The institute is conducting a proof of concept for its "agent payment platform," designed to let conversational AI manage the entire transaction flow without user intervention beyond voice or text commands.

"The competitiveness of the financial industry depends on the speed of AI transformation," Chae said.

Cross-Sector Coordination

KFTC plans to form a "Financial Sector AX Alliance" with financial firms to standardize AI technologies and build an industry ecosystem. The move reflects recognition that payment infrastructure will become more critical as AI agents handle more transactions.

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Expanding Cross-Border Payments

KFTC launched bidirectional QR payment services with Indonesia on April 1 and plans to expand to India and Vietnam by year-end. The service reduces currency exchange fees by up to 2 percentage points for overseas transactions.

The institute aims to extend the network to Singapore and Thailand to reduce costs for users sending money across borders.