Hecto Financial reports 53.5 percent rise in second-quarter net income

Hecto Financial said second-quarter net income rose 53.5 percent from a year earlier to 4.22 billion won ($2.96 million), crediting My Account Payment growth and higher cross-border settlement revenue from global merchants.

Revenue rose 12.6 percent to 50.1 billion won ($35.2 million), while operating profit increased 20.2 percent to 4.61 billion won ($3.23 million), compared with the same quarter last year.

Hecto Financial describes My Account Payment as a membership-based service for simple cash payments. It said growth in that service was one of the factors behind the quarter's improved profitability.

On the cross-border side, Hecto Financial, a fintech provider of virtual-account intermediation, firm banking and foreign-currency settlement, attributed higher settlement revenue to a larger global merchant base.

Looking ahead, Hecto Financial plans to expand stablecoin-based cross-border settlement services in stages, focusing on countries where regulations permit such business. The company said it would sequence the expansion in line with those country-specific regulatory conditions.

It also plans a proof of concept for an automated payment system for AI-agent environments. The company described the project as an effort to validate automated payments in those settings.

Hecto Financial is Circle Payment Network's sole Korean partner, a position it identifies in its global payments and stablecoin strategy.

The company is also participating as a payment company in Arc, infrastructure it describes as dedicated to stablecoins. It cited that role with the Circle partnership in setting out its broader strategy.

Together, the future initiatives cover stablecoin settlement across national borders and automated payments for AI-agent environments.

Stablecoin settlement expansion is subject to regulatory permission, while the AI-agent project remains at the proof-of-concept stage under the company's plan.