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Toss Bank draws over 3.6 million customers

Toss Bank CEO Hong Min- taek speaks during a press conference held in central Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Toss BankInternet bank announces nine-month achievement since launching By Anna J. Park Since Toss Bank was launched last October as the country's third internet-only bank, it has succeeded in attracting 3.6 million customers in just nine months. More than 2.5 million customers have been added this year alone, and the number of customers has tripled during the past six months. The bank announced its upcoming plans to launch differentiated products to help customers make wiser investment decisions and receive more benefits. “On average, it means that 13,600 people are joining Toss Bank per day,” the bank's CEO Hong Min-taek said during a press conference held in central Seoul, Tuesday. “And 83.2 percent of those customers actually turned out to have put money into their accounts. Customers' high reliance on Toss Bank's innovative operation shows that digital banking is meeting the needs of financial customers.”The CEO of the mobile-based bank specified its

Jun 28, 2022By Anna J. Park
Toss Bank draws over 3.6 million customers

KB Kookmin Bank mulls further capital increase for Indonesian subsidiary

Employees of Bank KB Bukopin work at one of the bank's branches in Indonesia. Courtesy of KB Kookmin BankBy Anna J. Park KB Kookmin Bank might need to inject additional capital into its Indonesian subsidiary, Bank KB Bukopin, as the Southeast Asian country's financial authority urged Seoul's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) to cooperate on reducing the Indonesia-based bank's debts.According to the financial industry, Tuesday, the Indonesian financial authority has stressed the need to get rid of the subsidiary bank's bad loans, calling on the Korean financial supervisory agency to discuss the matter. An FSS official explained that the Indonesian financial authority has asked for a capital increase on the part of KB Kookmin Bank to normalize Bank KB Bukopin's management.Regarding such calls, KB Kookmin Bank said that the bank is currently looking closely into its Indonesian subsidiary's financial statements and situation to see whether it needs a further capital increase. “As of now, nothing has been specifically determined as to the capital increase plan,” an official

Jun 28, 2022By Anna J. Park
KB Kookmin Bank mulls further capital increase for Indonesian subsidiary

NongHyup Bank expands Dokdo-themed metaverse platform

“Dokdo-Verse,” a metaverse platform launched by NongHyup Bank / Courtesy of NongHyup BankBy Yoon Ja-youngNongHyup Bank opened doors wider for its metaverse platform, “Dokdo-Verse,” turning it into an open beta service. “Dokdo-Verse” is a virtual space themed on the group of Korea's easternmost islets, Dokdo, where users can create their avatars and complete various missions, such as picking up litter or visiting a trekking trail. The bank jointly launched the test service with fintech company Finger on March 2, open only to subscribers. Some 36,500 people applied to join the metaverse platform last November, followed by 30,000 applications in January of this year. The users also received a “Dokdo-Verse” resident card in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) early this month. The bank's Dokdo branch in the virtual space also got some upgrading following the transition to open beta service. It also strengthened games within the metaverse, such as lucky draws. The bank plans to launch “Dokdo-Verse” officially on Aug. 15, Liber

Jun 28, 2022
NongHyup Bank expands Dokdo-themed metaverse platform

Woori pledges to cooperate with watchdog over suspicious forex trading

Woori Bank's headquarters in Seoul / YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungWoori Bank has been internally investigating suspicious foreign exchange trades totaling 800 billion won ($624.26 million) at its sales office and has reported the case to the Financial Supervisory Service for further investigation. The transactions were made through multiple corporate accounts, according to the lender. The sales office in Seoul has been looking into the case for the past year.“It is hard for us to determine whether the transaction was processed in accordance with submitted invoices. The transaction volume was so huge that we reported it to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS),” a spokesperson from Woori Bank said.Following the report, the financial watchdog launched an on-site inspection into the lender on June 23. The FSS will inspect the case with a focus on whether the lender violated any of the regulations under the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and sufficiently applied in anti-money laundering tactics.The watchdog will also investigate the source of the transactions in more detail. So

Jun 27, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Woori pledges to cooperate with watchdog over suspicious forex trading

Hana Financial Investment to change name to Hana Securities

The headquarters of Hana Financial Investment, right, and Shinhan Financial Investment in Seoul's financial district of Yeouido. Hana Financial Investment is set to change its company name on July 1, while Shinhan Financial Investment is considering a name change. Graphic image based on Yonhap photoShinhan Financial mulls company name change By Anna J. ParkHana Financial Investment will change its company name to Hana Securities on July 1. The brokerage firm changed to its current name from Hana Daetoo Securities in 2015.While including “financial” and “investment” in the name was a trend among securities companies for quite some time during an expansion period of investment banking operations, securities companies now appear to be returning to more traditional names. According to Hana Financial Investment, the name change to Hana Securities was approved at a shareholders' meeting last Friday. Hana Financial explained that the new company name is aimed at becoming more accessible to customers by being shorter, while setting a new vision of pursuing consistent

Jun 27, 2022By Anna J. Park
Hana Financial Investment to change name to Hana Securities

IBK chief focuses on financing SMEs in Vietnam

Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) Chairman and CEO Yoon Jong-won, left, shakes hands with Vietnamese Ambassador to Korea Nguyen Vu Tung during their meeting at the Vietnamese Embasssy in Seoul, June 22. The meeting took place before Yoon left for a five-day business trip to Vietnam on Sunday. Courtesy of IBKBy Yi Whan-wooIndustrial Bank of Korea (IBK) Chairman and CEO Yoon Jong-won is on a five-day business trip to Vietnam through Thursday, to bolster cooperation between the two countries on financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the lender said Monday.It said Yoon departed for Vietnam, Sunday, to check the state-run bank's support policy for Korean companies operating there and also to consult Vietnamese authorities on expanding such support.“IBK's role can be said to be more crucial in Vietnam than in other countries,” the bank said in a press release.It was referring to the bank's commitment to corporate financing, especially in regard to SMEs, under its vision to become “the best-performing SME financing bank in all of Asia.”Since

Jun 27, 2022By Yi Whan-woo
IBK chief focuses on financing SMEs in Vietnam

OK Savings Bank CEO reappointed for fourth term

OK Savings Bank CEO Jeong Gil-ho / Courtesy of OK Savings BankBy Anna J. ParkOK Savings Bank CEO Jeong Gil-ho has succeeded in getting his two-year term extended for the fourth time, to July 2024. The decision was made at the savings bank's extraordinary shareholders' meeting held last week, where the shareholders granted Jeong another term to lead the bank's management. The savings bank's recommendation committee nominated Jeong as the bank's next CEO candidate on June 13, stating that Jeong is fully qualified for the position as he has greatly contributed to the bank's development with his top-notch abilities.Under his leadership, the country's second-largest savings bank posted an annual growth of 35.9 percent for the bank's entire assets last year. The bank's assets stood at 12.2 trillion won ($9.5 billion) as of the end of last year. It also logged 243.4 billion won in net profit, which is a year-on-year increase of 31.5 percent.Jeong first took on the bank's leading position in July 2016, and has been reappointed to the top position every two years since.With the appointment, J

Jun 27, 2022By Anna J. Park
OK Savings Bank CEO reappointed for fourth term

Woori Bank under probe for irregular foreign currency transactions: sources

The headquarters of Woori Financial Group in central Seoul / Courtesy of Woori Financial GroupKorea's financial regulator has launched a probe into Woori Bank for its alleged involvement in irregular foreign currency transactions worth billions of won, industry sources said Monday.The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) carried out a spot inspection into one of the bank's branches last week after the bank found in a recent internal audit that foreign currency deals that go beyond conventional practices had been conducted there, according to the sources.The deals in question have been executed over the past year and valued at billions of won. Other details have not been disclosed.The inspection, however, has nothing to do with a massive embezzlement case for which an employee and his brother were recently indicted on charges of appropriating more than 60 billion won ($46 million) from the bank, the sources said. (Yonhap)

Jun 27, 2022
Woori Bank under probe for irregular foreign currency transactions: sources

Woori joins race to attract Citibank customer loan transfers

Woori Bank's headquarters in Seoul / Yonhap By Lee Min-hyungWoori Bank has joined the race to attract customers from Citibank Korea's retail banking, launching a loan repayment product targeting those who seek to transfer their loans from Citi to another lender.With Citibank Korea's retail banking business here going through a phased shutdown, the lender picked KB Kookmin Bank and internet-only Toss Bank recently as two major partners for its existing debtors to smoothly transfer their loan repayments.But Citibank's retail customers can also do so by using other lenders. Woori Bank has joined the race to attract Citi customers, whose combined loans are valued at around 8 trillion won ($6.1 billion).According to Woori, the lender plans to launch a special loan repayment product on July 1 with a preferential interest rate benefit of up to 1.5 percentage points to Citi customers.Citibank Korea's retail customers who have taken out non-collateralized loans can sign up f

Jun 27, 2022By Lee Min-hyung
Woori joins race to attract Citibank customer loan transfers

Hana Financial Group launches young honorary ambassador program

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo, center in front row, stands with college students designated as the group's honorary ambassadors at the launching ceremony of the ambassadors held at the group headquarters in downtown Seoul. Courtesy of Hana Financial GroupBy Yoon Ja-youngHana Financial Group launched a team of honorary ambassadors composed of college students, who will be promoting the financial group under the theme of sports. The 50 young representatives belong to the 16th team of SMART Ambassadors, a program Hana launched for college students in 2012. The honorary ambassadors promote the banking group's brand for four months, during which they have the chance to experience and spread Hana's mission of providing financial services for “Growing Together, Sharing Happiness.”The 16th team will be engaged in diverse missions under the theme of sports, according to Hana. Their activities will include planning some fun and interesting narratives to accompany the various sports teams as well as reviewing the group's official YouTube channel, Hana TV and also produ

Jun 26, 2022
Hana Financial Group launches young honorary ambassador program
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