BC Card, the financial services wing of South Korea’s major telecom company KT, will work with the central bank of Mongolia to establish a payment linkage system between South Korea and Mongolia. Mongolians can use their national payment system using automatic teller machines in South Korea.

According to data released by South Korea’s foreign ministry, 39,746 Mongolians were living in South Korea as of June 2022. A total of 113,864 Mongolian tourists visited South Korea in 2019. Mongolia accounted for the largest portion of average expenditure per person with $2,070, followed by China with $1,887. Between 2014 and 2019 the number of Mongolian tourists rapidly increased with an annual average rate of 16.9 percent.

BC Card said in a statement that the use of T-Card, a Mongolian national payment system that accounts for about 56 percent of the local card payment market, will be available using automatic teller machines (ATMs) and at affiliated stores in South Korea.

The decision on the payment linkage system was made at Mongolia’s national parliament building on January 25 when KT signed an agreement with the Mongolian government for the distribution of mineral resources that would help South Korean sectors such as home appliances and automotive parts to produce high-tech devices. Mongolia produces more than 80 kinds of mineral resources such as copper and zinc. KT and its subsidiaries would carry out digital transformation projects in Mongolia.