Kookmin Bank seeking to enter Myanmar

KB Kookmin Bank CEO Hur Yin

By Kim Bo-eun

KB Kookmin Bank is seeking to enter the Myanmar market, the bank said Monday.

“We're planning to apply for a banking license as soon as the notification is made by Myanmar's financial authorities,” a KB Kookmin Bank official said.

Earlier in 2014 the bank applied for the license, but failed to obtain it.

KB already has its microfinancing subsidiary KB Finance there, which was established in March 2017. It is providing housing loans and micro lending through 13 of its branches.

On July 4, Myanmar's Minister of Construction U Han Zaw and other high-level officials visited Kookmin Bank's headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, and discussed ways they could cooperate.

According to the bank, the Myanmar authorities are interested in learning about housing finance from Kookmin Bank, which is specialized in the field as it merged with the Housing and Commercial Bank in 2001.

“If KB starts a banking business in Myanmar, it could create synergy with the micro financing subsidiary there,” the Kookmin official said.

Major banks here have been aggressively expanding their presence overseas, especially in the fast-growing economies in the Southeast Asian region. Kookmin has been slow to follow suit and currently has the lowest number of overseas subsidiaries.