"'Financial Silk Road' Initiative"… BC Card Connecting Payment Networks with Mongolia

Promoting Innovation in Local Digital Financial Infrastructure

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] BC Card has decided to actively connect its payment network with Mongolia and build local digital financial infrastructure.

On the 30th, BC Card announced that it signed a strategic partnership with the Bank of Mongolia on the 26th at the Mongolian National Assembly to promote the Mongolia-Korea payment network connection (N2N) project and to establish digital financial infrastructure in Mongolia.

Accordingly, BC Card will directly connect the card payment networks between the two countries with the Bank of Mongolia. In the future, Mongolian citizens will be able to use their domestic payment brand, 'T-Card,' at ATMs and merchants in South Korea. T-Card is a state-owned Mongolian payment brand, accounting for about 56% of the local card payment market (as of Q3 last year). It is explained that this will allow Mongolians visiting South Korea in the post-COVID-19 era to experience more convenient payment services, which can also boost the recovery of domestic tourism industry sales.

In addition, BC Card will jointly design and build a national integrated acquiring system to structurally innovate the local payment infrastructure in Mongolia. Through BC Card’s integrated payment system ‘BAIS,’ the Mongolian government will distribute payment solutions at a pan-government level. This system can also be used as a core foundation for building digital-based administrative platforms such as public vouchers. Accordingly, BC Card is discussing the introduction of a Korean-style electronic voucher platform model with the Mongolian Ministry of Social Welfare and Labor, based on its know-how in building and operating various government voucher platforms such as Eco Money and the National Happiness Card.

Since 2019, BC Card has actively ventured into the Mongolian market, including afforestation projects. This is based on the judgment that Mongolia, as a representative country in the Central Asia region, can function as a key partner in overseas digital strategies. Choi Won-seok, CEO of BC Card, said, "The strategic partnership with the Bank of Mongolia is an opportunity to reaffirm the consensus on the KT Group-level DIGICO vision as well as the trust in BC Card’s long-standing relationship and technological capabilities," adding, "We will continue to take the lead in building a digital financial Silk Road through active collaboration."

On the 26th, Choi Won-seok, CEO of BC Card (left), and Lkhagvasuren Byadran, Governor of the Bank of Mongolia, signed a mutual cooperation agreement at the Mongolian Parliament building. (Photo by BC Card)

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.