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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Password service for visually impaired

A model tests Woori Bank's new digital one time password (OTP) service for visually impaired customers at the lender's headquarters in Seoul, Feb. 27. Customers can use the service for telebanking. / Courtesy of Woori Bank

Feb 27, 2020By Kim Bo-eun

Banks join movement to cut rent for virus-hit businesses

Namdaemun Market in central Seoul is mostly empty in this photo taken on Monday, due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus. / YonhapBy Kim Bo-eunBanks are joining a movement to support small businesses hit by the COVID-19 crisis, by lowering the rent for tenants in their buildings.Hana Financial Group said Thursday it would take part in a nationwide initiative, cancelling three months rent for the self-employed and small-and medium-sized businesses who are tenants in its buildings in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province. The region has been hit hardest by the virus due to mass community infections that occurred in meetings of the Shincheonji Church religious cult.Hana said it would lower the rent for tenants in buildings in other regions by 30 percent for the next three months.Shinhan Bank said a day earlier it would join the movement. "We have come up with comprehensive support measures for our clients, to carry out our role as a responsible firm," a bank official said.Woori Bank said it would lower loan interest rates and fees for building owners taking part in the plan.The In

Feb 27, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
  • Samsung, Hyundai, SK, LG ramping up coronavirus aid efforts

Zero percent interest era on the way

Major lenders rush to cut interest rates amid deepening slumpBy Lee Min-hyungMajor commercial banks are rushing to cut interest rates on savings accounts, in a pre-emptive attempt to tackle their worsening business environment due to the prolonged economic slump and toughened government regulations. Shinhan Bank plans to cut its interest rate on all checking accounts to 0.1 percent from March 21. The bank also decided to reduce annual interest rates of two installment savings products by 0.25 percentage points to 1.25 percentOther lenders have also recently cut the interest rate on some of their deposit accounts. KB Kookmin Bank lowered the interest rate for its KB Super Regular Savings Deposit account by 0.1 percentage points.Woori Bank also followed suit by pushing ahead with interest rate cuts on some of its deposit savings accounts.NongHyup Bank was one of the first to initiate the new interest rate changes with cuts to some of its major savings accounts of up to 0.3 percent points in December.The decisions come because of the nation's years-long economic downturn. The weak outlo

Feb 26, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
Zero percent interest era on the way
  • Virus-hit Korea urged to use expansionary policy

Tongyang, ABL Life's governance structure to remain unchanged

ABL Life Insurance, left, and Tongyang Life Insurance's building in Seoul / Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunThe corporate governance structure of Tongyang and ABL Life Insurance, owned by China's Dajia Insurance Group, will likely remain unchanged despite China's regulators' management of Dajia coming to an end last week.The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) said in a statement Saturday that it had ended a two-year takeover of Anbang Insurance Group, which the authority reestablished as Daija group last year.China's regulator took over the troubled Anbang group in February 2018 to improve its financial health, after the group fell into heavy debt following its excessive acquisition of overseas assets. Anbang's former chairman Wu Xiaohui was sentenced to 18 years in jail for financial fraud and embezzlement in May the same year.CBIRC established Dajia group in July 2019, with Anbang's healthy assets including its life insurance, pension and asset management businesses.The regulator's management of the insurance group was initially set to end in February 2019, but

Feb 26, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Tongyang, ABL Life's governance structure to remain unchanged

Blockchain-powered ID card

NongHyup Bank Vice President Jang Seung-hyeun, sixth from left in the second row, raises his fist with bank employees at the NH Digital Innovation Center in southern Seoul, Monday. The lender said that it has started a pilot run of a new mobile ID card system using blockchain-based decentralized identifier technology. Developed with SK Telecom, the system could prevent massive data leaks. / Courtesy of NongHyup Bank

Feb 25, 2020By Anna J. Park

Banks on alert over spread of coronavirus

The file photo shows a KB Kookmin Bank branch in Seoul. The lender shut down several branches in the southeastern city of Daegu after it was confirmed they were affected by the spreading novel coronavirus. Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunBanks are on alert over the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus, taking precautionary measures such as shutting down affected branches and carrying out disinfection work.According to major banks, Monday, multiple banks have shut down branches nationwide, following cases of infections there.KB Kookmin Bank's private banking center and bank outlet in the KB Insurance building in the southeastern city of Daegu was shut down, as the insurer closed the entire building after it confirmed an employee of another company in the same building was infected with the virus.NH NongHyup, Suhyup, KB Kookmin and DGB Daegu banks closed branches and outlets in Daegu where bank employees were confirmed to have been infected with the virus. The outlets that have been shut down may reopen as early as Wednesday.KB Kookmin Bank said it would cancel fees for transactions made

Feb 24, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
Banks on alert over spread of coronavirus

Hana Bank launches Smart ARS for foreigners

Tottenham Hotspur's forward Son Heung-min promotes Hana Bank's Smart ARS service in this photo. / Courtesy of Hana BankBy Park Jae-hyukHana Bank said Monday it launched a new “Smart ARS” service for foreigners and senior citizens.Combining the typical audio response system (ARS) with visual images on smartphone screens, the banking unit of Hana Financial Group has enabled easier and more convenient financial transactions with its new service.According to the bank, the service features intuitive design and a simple menu.Its users can send money to foreign countries and check their transaction history and exchange rates, using visual images, as well as voice guidance.Hana Bank expects the new service will allow foreigners and senior citizens who face difficulties in using Korean banking service smartphone apps to have improved access to a variety of financial services.Smart ARS is available in seven foreign languages ― Vietnamese, Indonesian, Khmer, Mongolian, Burmese, English and Chinese ― to simplify the growing number of overseas remittance by foreign workers here.In add

Feb 24, 2020By Park Jae-hyuk
Hana Bank launches Smart ARS for foreigners

Fight against COVID-19

National Agricultural Cooperative Federation Vice President Heo sik, single desk center, holds an emergency meeting on preventing the further spread of COVID-19 (2019nCoV), at NongHyup headquarters in Seodaemun, Feb. 21. Courtesy of NongHyup

Feb 23, 2020By Lee Kyung-min
Fight against COVID-19

NH set to challenge top 4 banking groups

NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Kim Gwang-soo / Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunNH NongHyup Financial Group's rapid growth is set to change the pecking order of the country's financial industry, with it challenging the top four banking groups ― Shinhan, KB, Hana and Woori. NongHyup saw its earnings surge in 2019 by nearly 50 percent year-on-year, based on the solid performance of its affiliates. Observers within the industry say that it may not be long before the group catches up with the four majors, or even surpasses some of themBy net profit in 2019, Shinhan leads the groups, followed by KB, Hana and Woori. Three of the four major banking groups posted record earnings last year. Shinhan, KB and Hana each saw their net profits grow by around 8 percent year-on-year.Woori saw its net profit shrink 7 percent, based on a major scandal involving the bank's mis-selling of high-risk investment options. Meanwhile, NH's figure surged by 46 percent.NongHyup group has seen rapid growth in recent years. In 2018, the group surpassed 1 trillion won in net profit and the figure jumped to 1.78 tril

Feb 21, 2020By Kim Bo-eun
NH set to challenge top 4 banking groups

Fate of K bank up in the air

K bank CEO Shim Sung-hoon closes his eyes while participating in a National Assembly audit in Seoul, on Oct. 16, 2017. YonhapBy Lee Min-hyungThe fate of cash-strapped K bank will be determined next week when the National Assembly is set to discuss revising laws on management of internet-only banks here.Lawmakers plan to bring the issue to the negotiating table on Feb. 26 during a judiciary committee. When the revision is passed, the nation's first internet-only bank will be able to normalize its business by raising capital from its major shareholder, KT.K bank has suffered from years-long losses since it started in 2017, by failing to increase capital. K bank failed to expand its capital from KT, as regulators disallowed the telecom operator to become the lender's controlling shareholder because of its violation of the Fair Trade Act.But if a revision is approved, it will allow K bank to receive capital from the telecom company.K bank came to the fore with much fanfare in April 2017 as the nation's first internet-only bank, followed shortly after by KakaoBank. As of the end of that y

Feb 20, 2020By Lee Min-hyung
Fate of K bank up in the air
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