my timesThe Korea Times
BusinessBanking & Finance

Banking & Finance

Hanwha Life launches AI multilingual learning tool for foreign insurance planners

Hanwha Life said Thursday that it has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) translation assistant designed to help foreign financial planners prepare for certification exams. The assistant is the first AI-powered learning support tool in the industry. It provides learning videos in Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese, along with multilingual practice questions and mock exams. As all features are mobile-based, foreign financial planners can study anytime, anywhere with ease. For example, videos originally available only in Korean are now dubbed in Chinese or Vietnamese using the AI assistant. AI-generated explanations help users understand concepts and terms in their native language when solving practice questions, and an automatic wrong-answer review feature helps them focus on areas needing improvement. Hanwha Life currently employs more than 1,600 foreign financial planners, with the majority from China (1,498) and Vietnam (71). The company said the service was introduced to meet the growing demand for a multilingual training environment and enhance access to learning. "The AI translatio

Nov 27, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo
Hanwha Life launches AI multilingual learning tool for foreign insurance planners

Regional financial groups see nonbanking biz overtake banking as key profit drivers

Regional financial groups are seeing their nonbanking subsidiaries outperforming their banking units, a major shift in their decades-long revenue structure, market watchers said Wednesday. Their capital, car financing, savings banks and securities subsidiaries are reporting increases in profit, driven by successful diversification strategies moving away from leasing or installment financing into car rental services and investment banking. Also at play is declining profitability of regional banks amid soaring delinquency rates, which have tripled to the average of their Seoul-based major peers. This led to greater share of nonbanking operations in the financial holding firms’ income. According to financial market data, the combined net profit of the three major regional financial groups — BNK, iM and JB — reached 1.78 trillion won ($1.21 billion) in the first nine months of the year, up 17.1 percent from a year earlier. JB Financial’s capital subsidiary specializing in rental car and used car financing posted a net income of over 211 billion won in the first nine months. This is m

Nov 26, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Regional financial groups see nonbanking biz overtake banking as key profit drivers

Recipient of Woori Multicultural Scholarship Foundation grateful for friendship, training

Lim Ji-hye, a recipient of the Woori Multicultural Scholarship Foundation, said Wednesday that she enjoyed being part of the choir activities organized by the public-interest foundation under Woori Financial Group. Participating in the choir was a truly enjoyable experience, she said. “I loved being able to sing and spend quality time with friends who share a similar background as me. At first, it was a bit awkward since we didn’t know each other well, but through practice and shared experiences, we became close and supportive of one another.” Performing on stage gave her a sense of confidence that went beyond singing, she added. “It helped me develop a positive mindset of ‘I can do it’ in everyday life as well. I’m glad I could be a part of the choir.” Being in the choir and performing on various stages has been an incredibly rewarding experience for her. "Singing and doing choreography in front of many people taught me how to be more confident. I also learned how to stay calm when I feel nervous. Because of this, when I have to give a presentation at school or speak in f

Nov 26, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Recipient of Woori Multicultural Scholarship Foundation grateful for friendship, training

Hana Financial to nurture data experts in AI era

Hana Financial Group plans to nurture 3,000 data specialists by 2027, as part of a long-term strategy to foster the global banking industry as it increasingly embraces artificial intelligence (AI) data operations, the group said Wednesday. The new experts will help the group strengthen risk assessment, data-backed personalized services, operational efficiency and fraud prevention, all bolstered and accelerated by strong data capabilities. The announcement came during the graduation ceremony for the third class of the Hana Data eXpert Program (DxP), held at the group’s headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. The new goal is the latest development in the group’s 2022 initiative, “2500 by 2025,” where Hana pledged to train 2,500 data experts by 2025. The Hana DxP program is designed to nurture employees who can combine technical data skills with financial expertise. Members of the latest course completed a three-month training where they deepened their understanding of data management theories, hands-on data analysis and AI tool training. Also included were financial data analytics, coding,

Nov 26, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
Hana Financial to nurture data experts in AI era

FSS scrutiny of MBK over Homeplus sparks debate on regulatory overreach

Concerns have been raised that the Financial Supervisory Service’s (FSS) move to impose severe sanctions on MBK Partners, Homeplus’ major shareholder, in connection with the retailer’s controversial corporate rehabilitation filing, represents excessive intervention by financial authorities, according to industry insiders Tuesday. They argued that the Capital Markets Act grants institutional private equity fund managers full authority over investment decisions, and that MBK acted within its discretion under the law. The country’s second-largest supermarket chain filed for corporate rehabilitation with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on March 4, following a credit rating downgrade. The financial watchdog views any infringement of the National Pension Service’s (NPS) interests during MBK’s alteration of the terms for Homeplus’ redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) — changes favorable to the retailer at the time of the downgrade — as an unsound business practice. In this context, the FSS issued a preliminary notice of severe sanctions, including a suspension of duties,

Nov 25, 2025By Jun Ji-hye
FSS scrutiny of MBK over Homeplus sparks debate on regulatory overreach

From automated transfers to algorithmic lending: AI bankers reshape finance

The financial sector, traditionally regarded as more conservative than other industries, is actively expanding the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to improve customer convenience, according to industry officials Tuesday. With banks broadening their use of AI, essential services such as transfers, debt workout support, credit limit checks and loan evaluations are becoming more and more accessible, they said. KakaoBank, the country’s largest internet-only bank, became the first domestic financial institution to introduce generative AI-powered money transfers. The new feature, released Monday, lets customers send money by simply engaging in a natural conversation with AI — similar to interacting with ChatGPT. The service effectively simplifies the multi-step process of entering the bank name, account number and transfer amount into a single spoken command. If the recipient has a recent transfer record, users can simply mention their name, and when a nickname is saved, even related phrases like “mom” or “dad” will facilitate the transfer. KakaoBank plans to further ap

Nov 25, 2025By Jun Ji-hye
From automated transfers to algorithmic lending: AI bankers reshape finance

Samsung Fire rolls out English, Chinese claims support for international clients

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance introduced an English- and Chinese-language claims service to make insurance procedures more convenient for its growing number of international customers, the company said Monday. The service is available through both the firm's official website and mobile app. To implement the service, the insurer analyzed global customers’ digital service usage, which showed that the most commonly used function was claims submission, accounting for 58.3 percent, followed by premium payment at 14 percent and certificate issuance at 9.5 percent. Among foreign users, 68.6 percent spoke Chinese and 8.4 percent spoke English, indicating strong demand for support in these two languages for the claims process. Based on this analysis, the company rolled out English and Chinese services for the claims section first, allowing foreign customers to navigate the process more easily and accurately. During development, the firm conducted usability tests with English- and Chinese-speaking users to evaluate the layout, instructions and input steps, and incorporated the feedback into the

Nov 25, 2025By Jun Ji-hye
Samsung Fire rolls out English, Chinese claims support for international clients

What 'severe' penalty could be imposed on MBK Partners?

Attention is growing over the level of penalties MBK Partners may face, after the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) sent the private equity firm, which controls Homeplus, an advance notice of “severe” disciplinary action amid ongoing controversy over the retailer’s application for a court-led corporate rehabilitation program, according to financial industry officials Monday. The financial watchdog had initially planned to wait for the prosecution to conclude its investigation before taking any action, but its stance shifted after new Governor Lee Chan-jin took office in August. Lee, a former public interest lawyer with ties to progressive civic groups, directed FSS officials to reopen the case, emphasizing that “strict measures are necessary” against the firm. It marks the first time a general partner (GP) of an institutional private equity fund has faced severe sanctions from the financial authorities. Under the Capital Markets Act, sanctions against a GP range from lower to higher levels — institutional caution, institutional warning, suspension of duties for up to six m

Nov 24, 2025By Jun Ji-hye
What 'severe' penalty could be imposed on MBK Partners?

Eximbank hosts forum to advance inter-Korean climate cooperation

The Export-Import Bank of Korea (Eximbank) said Sunday that it co-hosted the 2025 Korean Peninsula Climate and Environment Cooperation Forum with the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment at the Korea Press Center in Seoul on Friday. The forum focused on developing concrete policies for mutually beneficial inter-Korean exchange. Participants explored pathways to revive cross-border cooperation through joint responses to climate change. The event builds on the Korean government's five-year governance plan, unveiled in August, which outlines a vision for a peaceful, coexisting and prosperous peninsula. The forum served as an early step toward realizing that vision. During the first session, professor Koo Kab-woo of the University of North Korean Studies moderated a lively discussion on peaceful co-existence on the Korean Peninsula. Speakers included Sogang University professor Chung Young-chul, Institute for National Security Strategy researcher Kim Il-gi, UNESCAP associate economic affairs officer Kim Sung-eun and Um Ju-hyun, secretary-general of Med

Nov 23, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo
Eximbank hosts forum to advance inter-Korean climate cooperation

Insurers pursue overseas expansion, new business amid challenges

Major insurance companies have been stepping up overseas expansion and pursuing mergers and acquisitions (M&As) to diversify into new businesses as a response to the challenges of a low-growth domestic market shaped by demographic shifts and regulatory changes, industry officials said Friday. They noted that generating profits from core insurance operations has become increasingly difficult, while the ongoing possibility of interest rate cuts creates further difficulties in managing assets and liabilities. Data from the Financial Supervisory Service showed that life insurers’ cumulative net profit for the first three quarters of this year stood at 4.8 trillion won ($3.3 billion), down 8.3 percent from the same period last year. During the same period, non-life insurers’ net profit dropped 19.6 percent to 6.5 trillion won. This decline comes as underwriting profits have worsened for both life and non-life insurers, causing issues in their core business operations. In response, insurers have sought to diversify their business portfolios by expanding into overseas markets and exploring

Nov 22, 2025By Jun Ji-hye
Insurers pursue overseas expansion, new business amid challenges
previous page
3031323334
next page

Most Read in Business