KB Kookmin Card Signs AI Digital Payments Partnership With SBI Holdings, Everspin

KB Kookmin Card said on October 13 that it signed a four-party memorandum of understanding with Japan's SBI Holdings, Everspin and SBI Everspin to cooperate on AI agent security technology and digital finance and payment services between South Korea and Japan.

The agreement is intended to establish a security framework that verifies AI agents' identities and user-delegated authority, while also assessing the commercialization potential of cross-border digital payment services built on that system. The companies plan to jointly pursue technology demonstrations and explore ways to link financial services through the KYA (Know Your Agent) Trust Gateway.

The KYA Trust Gateway is a security platform that verifies an AI agent's identity and checks the scope of tasks delegated by users, as well as service access permissions. SBI Everspin, a joint venture jointly operated by SBI Holdings and Everspin, planned the platform and is developing the related technology with Everspin. The initial demonstration will verify identity-check procedures when Japanese AI agents access services in South Korea. It will later expand to cover transaction authority management.

Through the partnership, KB Kookmin Card will also examine whether AI agents can be integrated with KB Pay, its payment platform. The key issue is creating procedures to verify prior approval and transaction authority when an AI agent makes payments on a user's behalf. The company aims to build an environment in which AI-based automated services can be used safely in actual financial transactions.

Payment services between South Korea and Japan using stablecoins are also a major area of cooperation. The companies will review ways to let Japanese tourists use digital assets, including stablecoins, at merchants in South Korea. They also plan to examine procedures needed to operate live services, including payment and settlement, cancellations and refunds, and responses to fraudulent transactions. Based on the demonstration results, they will consider commercialization and expanding the scope of cooperation.

A KB Kookmin Card official said the agreement would help verify the foundation needed for AI agents to be used safely across a range of services. The company will work with partners to provide customers in South Korea and Japan with a convenient and secure digital payment experience.

An SBI Holdings official said the company will explore new service models by combining the SBI Group's financial capabilities with the AI and security technologies of the participating companies. That effort could lead to cooperation on stablecoin payments and related services based on the demonstration.

An Everspin official said social concern has grown as AI-based cyberattacks such as ARTEX become a reality. Everspin has demonstrated its capabilities by detecting ARTEX attack attempts in actual financial service environments. The official added that the company's record of detecting about 25 billion cyber threats across more than 150 financial institutions in South Korea and overseas underscores the strength of its security technology.