Woori Financial opens fintech R&D center in Vietnam
Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Woori Financial Group has opened the Digital Innovation Lab Vietnam in Hanoi, the firm said Friday.
The Digital Innovation Lab Vietnam is the financial group's fintech center there supporting domestic startups' entry to the Southeast Asian country.
The group said it also held an opening ceremony for the fintech center Thursday, which was attended by Woori officials such as Woori Bank CIO Lee Dong-yeon and Korean government officials including Financial Services Commission (FSC) banking and insurance bureau director general Choi Hoon.
“Woori Financial Group opened the Digital Innovation Lab Vietnam to strengthen ties between Korean and Vietnamese startups,” a Woori Financial Group official said.
“There are a number of startups with differentiated technologies and service knowhow. The fintech center will play a stepping stone role to support these firms' entry to Vietnam.”
The Fintech Center Korea and its counterpart in Vietnam jointly held the Fintech Demo Day event at the center after its opening ceremony to introduce Korea and Vietnam's fintech industries and investment trends.
Korean and Vietnamese fintech firms also set up their exhibition booths during the event to introduce their business models while attracting possible investors.
Before the event, Fintech Center Korea singled out five domestic startups to get support from Digital Innovation Lab Vietnam.
As part of the center's support, local startup accelerator KIMC Group will offer various consulting services regarding patents, accounting and compliance at Campus-K, a shared workspace located in Hanoi.
Woori Financial Group also provides market analysis as well as networking services through the group's infrastructure there.
In a bid to overcome the nation's saturated financial market, Korea's financial firms are making inroads into Southeast Asian countries. Of countries in the region, Vietnam has been the most favorable destination due to the country's rapid economic growth.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Korea's commercial banks jointly posted a 157.8 billion won ($131.8 million) net profit last year, up 116 percent from $61 million the previous year.
Woori Bank Vietnam also enjoyed a 130 percent year-on-year surge in net profit to $6.83 million in the first half of the year.
In April, Woori Bank, the financial group's banking unit, signed an MOU with telecommunication services provider SK Telink to expand its consumer base in Vietnam.
Under the deal, Woori Bank Vietnam and SK Telink's local unit there will jointly provide a mobile installment finance service for Vietnamese customers who buy new smartphones.
They said they plan to go after consumers planning to buy new handsets based on big data analysis and use credit analysis model to sell credit loan and mobile installment finance products in the future.