Business - The Korea Times

Banks capitalize on animated characters to appeal to more customers

Star Friends, five animated cartoon characters of KB Kookmin Bank, are themed on a star that symbolizes the lender in its marketing. Courtesy of KB Kookmin BankBy Yi Whan-wooCommercial banks are using animated cartoon characters to appeal to people's emotions and improve their brand image, in stark contrast to a decade ago when they mostly relied on celebrities in their promotional campaigns. Virtually every top-tier bank has iconic animated characters, including animals, fish and vegetables, which are developed to address their vision and principles regarding customer services.Such marketing strategies, according to industry sources, are mainly inspired by the success of KakaoBank, the online banking arm of tech giant Kakao.The internet-only lender grew large enough to have nearly 20 million subscribers after it was launched in 2017. Its commercials are noted for featuring a group of hugely-popular animated cartoon characters known as Kakao Friends, which were created by Kakao. “Having its own animated characters certainly helps in marketing,” a source said, noting that

Aug 9, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Banks capitalize on animated characters to appeal to more customers

Hana Bank wins Digital Banking Award 2022 for mobile services

A promotional image to celebrate Hana Bank winning a Digital Banking Award 2022 in the mobile category / Courtesy of Hana BankBy Yi Whan-wooHana Bank said Tuesday that it won a globally recognized award for its mobile banking service.The lender won in the mobile category of the Innovation in Digital Banking Awards 2022 from The Banker, a U.K. monthly magazine owned by the Financial Times.It was awarded for its virtual “My Branch” that connects customers with tellers and managers at physical branches in their neighborhood for one-on-one services via mobile phone.“My Branch” accordingly brings together convenience and efficiency from both online and offline banking services, to make up for the shortcomings of digital banking, which not all customers find easy to use.“The application not only offers personalized financial products, organized by branch managers for specific customers, but also presents a different layout and presentation tailored to each user,” The Banker said of “My Branch.” Citing Hana Bank, The Banker noted the Korean co

Aug 9, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Hana Bank wins Digital Banking Award 2022 for mobile services

Coupang aims to strengthen profitability through financial biz

Coupang's headquarters in southern Seoul / YonhapBy Anna J. ParkAs Coupang has decided to enter the financial industry, launching Coupang Financial earlier this month, market watchers view the move as an attempt by the e-commerce firm to secure a stable cash cow business. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), Coupang Financial, a subsidiary of Coupang Pay, registered itself as a specialized credit financial business on Friday, officially entering the country's credit financial industry. Coupang Pay holds a 100-percent stake in Coupang Financial.With capital assets of 40 billion won ($30 million), Coupang Financial meets the requirement for the specialized credit financial business, which normally requires capital assets of over 20 billion won. Market analysts expect that Coupang will be attempting to expand its financial services to a wider area of financial sectors and retail consumers, once it successfully operates providing credit loan services to Coupang's suppliers and store vendors. They forecast that Coupang Financial will follow the path of Naver Financial dur

Aug 9, 2022By Anna J. Park

Coupang aims to strengthen profitability through financial biz

KB Financial wins Red Dot Design Award for local wine packaging

The packaging of “Star Friends Wine Collection” designed by KB Financial Group. Courtesy of KB Financial Group By Yi Whan-wooKB Financial Group said Monday it won an internationally-renowned design award for the packaging design of a special set of wines that are produced in its project aimed at supporting small businesses in Korea's rural areas. The nation's largest banking group said the “Star Friends Wine Collection” won in the brands and communication design category of the Red Dot Design Award in Germany.The wine set consists of a red wine and a white wine, each featuring one of the five animated cartoon characters created by KB Financial Group, called “Star Friends,” on its label.Each wine is contained in a cylindrical container, which is also designed by KB Financial Group.The wines are produced by small, rural wineries that purchase grapes from rural grape farms.KB Financial Group buys the wines exclusively for marketing purposes.The company came up with the

Aug 8, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

KB Financial wins Red Dot Design Award for local wine packaging

Woori Bank to invest $7.7 million in 10 promising startups

By Yi Whan-wooWoori Bank will spend 10 billion won ($7.7 million) on 10 promising startups that it plans to support through an open contest, the lender said Sunday.The bank said it will start receiving applications from Aug 8 to 19 from any startup that has potential for innovation and growth and is also interested in receiving funding.Woori Bank's headquarters in central Seoul / Courtesy of Woori BankA total of 10 companies will be selected by December through evaluations on technological advancement, business prospects and other criteria.The bank will invest 1 billion into each of the 10 promising startups. The money will be raised through redeemable shares or RCPS, which refer to preferred stocks that the issuing company may trade for cash.The country's fourth-largest bank has been active in supporting startups, as seen from an 80.7 billion won investment into 83 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through nine contests under the broader strategy of nurturing growth engines in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.Some sources say that the bank is leaning toward nurturing startu

Aug 7, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Woori Bank to invest $7.7 million in 10 promising startups

INTERVIEW Finda brings innovation to local loan markets

Finda's co-founders and CEOs Lee Hye-min, left, and Park Hong-min pose for a photo at the headquarters of Finda located in southern Seoul in late July. Courtesy of FindaLoan platform firm broadens biz portfolio to better aid customers By Anna J. ParkSince Finda, a platform offering a one-stop loan marketplace, was founded in 2015, the fintech company has been exponentially growing by attracting millions of users in the country. Over the past three years, Finda has grown by a whopping 65 times in terms of monthly revenue, and it has been keeping up with its goal to increase its revenue by three times this year compared to 2021.Behind the impressive growth are two aspiring and ambitious startup veterans, co-founders and CEOs Lee Hye-min and Park Hong-min. The Korea Times recently sat down with them at the headquarters of Finda in southern Seoul to listen to their vivid business stories.The two first met in the Silicon Valley in early 2015.Back then, Lee was already a startup superstar in her early 30s, with three successful entrepreneurship experiences, including cosmetics subscription

Aug 6, 2022By Anna J. Park

[INTERVIEW] Finda brings innovation to local loan markets

Savings banks focus on Gen MZ-oriented marketing

An image of OK Savings Bank's corporate character / Captured from YouTube Lenders no longer offer attractive deposit rates that appealed to older customersBy Yi Whan-wooSavings banks are bolstering marketing campaigns to attract Generation MZ consumers, which is a Korean term referring to Millennials and Generation Z.The second-tier savings banks used to offer much higher deposit rates than first-tier banks, which prompted older generations, many of them business owners, to open accounts.But that is no longer the case.The difference in deposit rates has been rapidly narrowing recently, as the top-tier lenders are offering higher rates as a part of efforts to share the pain with borrowers after being criticized for profiting from high interest margins.For instance, the average deposit rate gap between savings and top-tier banks shrank to 0.69 percent in June, down from 0.76 percent in March and 1.10 percent in September 2021, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Aug 5, 2022By Yi Whan-woo

Savings banks focus on Gen MZ-oriented marketing

Will SGI's planned IPO succeed?

The headquarters of Seoul Guarantee Insurance (SGI) in central Seoul / Yonhap Gov't aims to complete retrieval of public funds injected into SGI by 2027By Anna J. ParkAs Seoul Guarantee Insurance (SGI) is set to go public within the first half of the next year, the company sent request for proposals (RFPs) to several local securities firms earlier this month to appoint main underwriters for the upcoming IPO process.The IPO decision was made by the government on July 21, aiming to accelerate the retrieval of public money injected into the insurance company so that the government can realize its original plan of completing the retrieval process by 2027.Altogether, 10.25 trillion won ($790 billion) was put into the company for two years from 1999 during the Asian Financial Crisis to aid the firm's massive payment for guaranteeing corporate bonds. As a result, state-run Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) currently possesses a 93.85 percent stake in the insurance

Aug 5, 2022By Anna J. Park

Data shows banks reject most consumer demands to lower loan interest rates

gettyimagesbank By Yoon Ja-youngIf a person gets promoted and receives a higher income or accumulates more assets, they have a legal right to demand banks or other lenders to slash interest rates levied on their borrowings. However, seven out of 10 requests to lower interest rates are rejected, according to the latest data. Data Rep. Yun Chang-hyun of the ruling People Power Party obtained from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) showed there were 882,047 requests filed by customers to banks, including regional banks and online-only banks, to have their loan rates lowered. However, only 26.6 percent of such requests were approved by the lenders.Following a revision of related laws in June 2019, customers have the right to demand banks to slash loan rates if their credit conditions have improved, such as increases in assets or income. For example, a customer who did not have a job at the time he or she obtained a loan may have been hired later, promoted to a high

Aug 5, 2022By Yoon Ja-young

Data shows banks reject most consumer demands to lower loan interest rates

KakaoBank employees at loss over employee stock ownership plan

KakaoBank's Pangyo headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / NewsisBy Anna J. Park KakaoBank's stock price rose by 4.78 percent, ending at 32,900 won ($25) on Thursday's trading session, following the previous day's solid first-half earnings report. The digital bank raked a record-high net profit of 123.9 billion won in the first half, which is 6.8 percent year-on-year increase.Despite enjoying a stock price high since late June, employees of the internet-only bank cannot enjoy the ride to the fullest. Many of them are monitoring the stock price anxiously, as the stock price at Thursday's closing is still more than 15 percent lower than its initial offering price of 39,000 won, set last summer at the time of the bank's listing debut on the main benchmark KOSPI. At the time of the IPO, KakaoBank allocated 19.5 percent of its offering shares to its employee stock ownership plan, or a total of 12.7 million shares at a price of 39,000 won per share, which is the same as the initial offering price. Given that the total number of employees at the time was 1,014, each employee of the ba

Aug 4, 2022By Anna J. Park

Banking & Finance