[THE INVESTOR] Nautilus Hyosung, an affiliate of Hyosung Group, one of Korea’s largest conglomerates, has teamed up with US mobile payment firm Just Cash to enable bitcoin transactions on automated teller machines.

The Korean ATM maker operates more than 8,000 active machines in the nation. The new solution will allow users to transfer the cryptocurrency to their existing digital wallets by scanning a QR code. These wallets, in turn, can be accessed via smartphones. 

Only bitcoins will be available on this new service now, but more digital currencies will be added later, according to the companies.

After completing a transaction, the ATM will print out a receipt outlining the details, including the users’ public and private keys -- algorithms used to enable and keep safe such transactions. A service fee will be charged for every transaction, and it will vary depending on the bitcoin exchange rate that will be updated in real time.

The Hyosung Group affiliate jumped into the ATM business for bitcoins in 2014, in partnership with a local bitcoin firm Coinplug.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)