Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Woori reviews setting up joint entity with KT
Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung, left, and KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo / Courtesy of Woori Financial Group
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
Woori Financial Group is reviewing establishing a joint company with telecommunications firm KT, among various options, according to the group, Thursday.
The two formed an alliance last month on developing ICT-integrated financial services and drew up a related taskforce.
“We are in the early stages of discussing ways we can cooperate,” a Woori official said. “Setting up a joint entity is one of many options.”
This is a model set up in 2016 by Hana Financial Group and KT's telecommunications rival SK Telecom. Hana and SK respectively own 51 percent and 49 percent stakes in financial services platform Finnq. The fintech firm offers loan comparison services, based on data from SK Telecom.
Data analysis is a key sector Woori and KT are expected to work together in.
Regarding the focus on data, a Woori official said, "Woori's bank and card units have applied with the government to launch MyData businesses, so Woori could end up carrying out the data business on its own, but nothing has been decided yet."
The “MyData” business enables financial and fintech firms to provide analysis on customers' scattered data, by pooling the data with customers' consent. The Financial Services Commission is accepting applications from firms seeking to launch the business.
Regarding the possibility, KT said it has no plans to take part in establishing a joint entity with Woori for the time being. “Discussions with Woori are taking place as a shareholder of K bank,” a KT official said.
KT sold its K bank stake to BC Card but still has stakes in the internet bank as BC Card is a subsidiary of KT. Woori owns a 26.2 percent share in K bank. K bank's shareholders have been seeking collaboration with the internet lender.
Collaboration between financial and telecom entities is increasingly being seen, as both sectors seek to enhance their competitiveness by coming up with innovative, integrated services.
Similarly, KB Kookmin Bank partnered with the third-ranking mobile carrier LG Uplus, offering affordable phone plans with discounts if customers make key transactions with the bank.
The phone plans are designed so that the more KB-related services the user adopts, the greater the discounts become. Customers are able to sign up for the budget phone plans at Kookmin Bank branches.
Kookmin Bank is seen to have devised the new project as a means to attract younger customers, as teenagers are usually the age group that sign up for budget phone plans.
Such types of partnerships are expected to increase, as banks face a tougher business environment amid low interest rates.
“Partnerships with different sectors are crucial for financial firms which can no longer survive on their own,” an official of a bank said.