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More US, Chinese life insurers may leave Korea

By Park Jae-hyukMore attention is focusing on whether the U.S.-based MetLife and Cigna and China's Dajia will follow in the footsteps of Prudential Financial, which recently sold its Korean insurance arm to KB Financial Group for about 2.3 trillion won ($1.9 billion).Given that several global players ― ING, Allianz, PCA and Prudential ― have already left or decided to leave Korea amid the local market's saturation, more foreign insurance giants, including MetLife and Cigna, are expected to put their Korean operations on the M&A market soon, despite their denials.“The agenda regarding the sales of Korean units has been brought up every year at board meetings of both MetLife and Cigna over the past few years, because of the deteriorating growth potential of the Korean market,” a source familiar with this issue said on condition of anonymity.“Considering the recent sale of Prudential Life Insurance Company of Korea, it is highly probable that additional U.S. insurers will attempt to sell their local units.”MetLife declined to comment, while Lina Korea, the Ko

Apr 20, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
More US, Chinese life insurers may leave Korea

KB's social campaign for small business owners

KB Financial Group Chairman Yoon Jong-kyoo, third from left, and KB Kookmin Bank CEO Hur Yin, second from left, engage in a group-wide social campaign at a restaurant near its headquarters in Seoul, last week. Under the anti-coronavirus campaign, KB set up a special fund worth 300 million won to pay for food at restaurants near its headquarters and in key business areas to help small business owners suffering a large drop in sales due to the pandemic shock. Courtesy of KB Financial Group

Apr 19, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
KB's social campaign for small business owners

Is K bank on track for normalization?

By Kim Bo-eunAttention to the troubled internet-only K bank is growing as it seeks to normalize its operations after business was virtually suspended due to capital issues.Telecommunications giant KT led K bank's launch in 2017. Last year, KT sought to become K bank's majority shareholder, but was barred by regulations that stated it should be free any record of violating fair trade regulations. The authorities halted a review of KT's eligibility as the major shareholder, because it was under investigation for collusion with other telecommunications firms in a circuit line business project.KT devised a plan for its affiliate BC Card to take over its 10 percent stake in K bank, and help the lender increase its capital. BC Card's board approved the plan Tuesday. BC Card aims to increase its stake in K bank to 34 percent, by purchasing new shares issued by the lender. Boosting its capital base is of the utmost priority for K bank, which halted extending new loans in April last year due to the shortage of capital.BC Card needs to receive approval from financial authorities to buy KT's sh

Apr 17, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Is K bank on track for normalization?

Banks vying to secure digital talent

By Lee Min-hyungGetty Images BankLocal banks are going all-out to recruit more digital-savvy employees, as non-face-to-face transactions are rapidly replacing traditional sales activities. The move will continue to pick up steam, with banks here and abroad seeking to embrace the shift towards digital operations to ensure their survival amid the prolonged economic slowdown and toughening market rivalry, according to industry officials.Major commercial lenders here remain aggressive in recruiting experts in the digital and information and communication technology (ICT) areas so as not to fall behind global banking trends.KB Kookmin Bank, the nation's largest bank in terms of 2019 net profit, is receiving applications for IT engineers whose primary task will be to establish non-face-to-face digital platforms. Those with more than five years of experience in developing online programs are eligible for the position.But lenders, including KB, are struggling to recruit top-level IT experts here, as they in general choose to work for the world's leading technology companies in the United Sta

Apr 16, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
Banks vying to secure digital talent

Banks capture social distancing as marketing opportunity

A girl is asked about “credit cards” in a video on Shinhan Bank's YouTube channel / Captured from YouTubeBy Kim Bo-eunBanks are revamping their YouTube channels and offering diversified content as social distancing to contain the COVID-19 pandemic is increasing the time people spend online. This is seen as a means to reach out to a larger, mostly younger, audience to better promote themselves.Shinhan Bank renewed its YouTube channel earlier this month, to offer short and easy, fun-to-watch content.It is running a series where a bank employee explains economic terms to young children. In another, Shinhan is introducing restaurants that offer affordable but good meals near to its bank branches nationwide. A Shinhan official said this was part of efforts to support the self-employed, who are affected by social distancing.Woori Bank has its official YouTube channel and another entertainment-purpose channel. On the latter channel, young bank employees talk about various topics such as, "Will artificial intelligence take over bankers' jobs?" On Instagram, Woori posted a web dra

Apr 15, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Banks capture social distancing as marketing opportunity

Leaders of financial firms buying back stocks amid virus shock

By Lee Min-hyungWoori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seungLeaders of Korea's financial holding firms are standing at the forefront to defend their declining stock value by aggressively buying back their own shares. A stock buyback is widely used by companies to enhance their corporate value when their share price plunges. The move by top management is seen as a message to shareholders that they will remain responsible for corporate growth.It was only recently that local financial holding companies began taking similar action. They took the steps amid a growing sense of crisis over their declining share prices and widening business uncertainty stemming from the continued spread of COVID-19. Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung bought back 5,000 company shares recently, in an apparent gesture of confidence that the lender will continue boosting shareholder value. Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-taeThis is the third time in 2020 that Son has pushed a stock buyback. Starting January, the Woori chief bought back 15,000 shares. This has seen him obtain 78,127 shares in the

Apr 15, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
Leaders of financial firms buying back stocks amid virus shock

Kakao Bank to launch fintech lab this year

The screen on a mobile phone shows an account of a Kakao Bank customer. / Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunKakao Bank's fintech lab will have a trial open in the latter half of this year, the internet-only bank said Tuesday.The lab is set to focus on developing technology for various non-face-to-face financial transactions.Kakao Bank plans for the lab to collaborate with fintech firms and research institutions.The lender said it is in the process of making decisions on where to bring experts from, and how the lab will be organized."After operating for three years, we realized how much work we have to do on developing infrastructure and improving our mobile application," the official said, explaining why the bank decided to set up the lab.Kakao Bank plans to develop technology on financial transactions made via artificial intelligence (AI)-based voice-activated speakers, and develop AI-based technologies that will be able to process customer center inquiries. The Financial Services Commission enabled the lab to open, by exempting it from regulations. The regulations require banks to separ

Apr 14, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Kakao Bank to launch fintech lab this year
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