The CHAI-BC Card partnership will help CHAI launch its own debit card by early 2020

Terra Co-Founder, Do Wong, announced during the Korea Blockchain Week that Terra’s payments dApp CHAI has partnered up with BC Card. Via this collaboration, CHAI will be launching its own debit card by early 2020.

The CHAI card will be accepted at BC Card’s +3 million affiliates in Korea, with plans to expand globally with BC’s global network partners. CHAI will issue the card, and BC Card will act on behalf of card payment processing such as sales slip acquisitions.

CHAI Corporation’s CEO Changjoon Han said about the partnership:

“We are excited to work with BC Card, who owns the largest number of affiliates. This will be a critical turning point for mobile app CHAI to expand beyond online transactions and into offline retail. When the CHAI Card is launched in H1 2020, users will be able to shop at BC Card’s 3 million online and offline affiliates and enjoy up to 10% off every purchase. Moreover, CHAI’s business will rapidly grow with additional joint efforts such as integrating with BC Card’s QR code application and utilizing Terra’s blockchain technology.”

CHAI – Mobile payments for the next generation

CHAI is Terra’s mobile payments dApp that allows consumers to pay for items online by simply adding their bank account. CHAI went live on TMON, one of Korea’s largest eCommerce companies with 10 million users and $3.5 billion in GMV, shortly after the launch of Terra’s mainnet.

CHAI has been extremely well-received by the community. In just three months following its launch, it has managed to garner over 430,000 users and outperformed the more established KakaoPay in both the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store rankings.

What is BC Card?

BC Card was started in 1982 when five commercial banks (at that time, the Chohung, Sangup, First, Hanil, and Seoul Banks) jointly established a bank credit card association. Today, it has become, by far, the biggest credit card company in South Korea and has 14 member companies. Through Smartro, its subsidiary company, BC Card provides end-to-end payment services to both financial institutions and merchants. Its portfolio includes acquiring; credit, debit, prepaid, etc.; local brand network operation under the brand of “BC.”

Why this is massive news for Terra

This partnership is huge for Terra since the CHAI card will be able to leverage BC Card’s considerable clout and reach. Terra will be able to offer its blockchain technology through CHAI to its vast user base. Terra’s stablecoin mechanism will allow it to offer low transaction fees to merchants and generous discount offers to end-users. As more and more users experience these benefits, they will use the CHAI card more frequently to make various purchases. This will, in turn, drive up Terra’s usage exponentially, making it one of the busiest blockchain networks out there.

Conclusion

While several dApps are struggling to garner enough users to drive even minimal usage, CHAI has already managed to gather a considerable audience. Plus, following their partnership with BC Card, CHAI is going to be used by virtually everyone in South Korea. It will be exciting to see how CHAI, and by extension, Terra, takes the Korean market.