Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Korean banks boost overseas workforce
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Korea's top four commercial banks ― Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori and KEB Hana ― are strengthening their overseas workforces in Southeast Asian countries in a bid to solidify global business there amid fast saturation of the local market, industry officials said Thursday.
The lenders have been trying to minimize the dispatch of Korean workers to their overseas branches to strengthen their localization strategies.
They believe a more viable option is to hire local workers who have a better understanding of the culture as well as business environment including regulatory hurdles.
The banks said local sales representatives can better devise marketing strategies that would best work with customers of the same nationality. Up to 90 percent of them are locals, with the remainder being Koreans.
Korea's top four banks have over a combined 16,000 workers overseas as of September, up nearly 10 percent from a year earlier when it was 14,620.
The September figure is an over 40 percent increase from two years earlier when the number was around 11,400 in 2017.
Of the total, Woori Bank has 6,533 foreign workers, followed by Shinhan (4,768), KEB Hana (3,791) and KB Kookmin (937).
Woori's overseas workers nearly doubled from 2017 when there were 3,887.
Woori said among other countries it has increased the number of workers in Vietnam the most as it opened 10 more branches adding up to 13 over the past year.
“We will boost marketing channels there utilizing our card business, mostly by offering various benefits including discounts or loyalty programs,” a Woori official said. “We will also seek to build customer relationships with our bank clients and expand other businesses to boost our market share in a country with ample growth potential.”
Woori plans to expand business in Indonesia and the Philippines, as part of a broader plan to boost the bank's global revenue from the current 10 percent to up to 40 percent in the long term.
Shinhan is well-known for its solid presence in Vietnam.
Shinhan Bank Vietnam is the largest foreign-invested financial firm there with 36 branches, accounting for over a third of Shinhan Bank's global business income.
The bank is enjoying a sweeping success after hiring Park Hang-seo, the head coach of Vietnam's national football team, as its spokesperson.
“Vietnamese people like Koreans compared to those from most other Southeast Asian countries. This helps us build and deepen relationships with customers there,” a Shinhan official said.
KEB Hana plans to send about 50 workers overseas. KB Kookmin, the latecomer in the global race, said its future strategy will be to “grow to outperform” the competitors.