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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.

Samsung, Google biometric flaws mar fintech innovation

Users try to unlock Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S10 and Note 10 smartphones with a persimmon peel (left) and a stylus pen in this file photo. / Korea Times fileBy Park Jae-hyuk A series of errors found recently in biometric software in Samsung and Google smartphones have dealt a blow to the nation's financial industry which has sought innovation through authentication technology using biological characteristics, according to industry officials, Wednesday.In line with the trend of digital transformation, financial services companies here have enabled their customers to utilize fingerprint or facial recognition systems when making financial transactions on their mobile devices.Rapid-growing mobile payment service providers especially have allowed customers to make payments or send money by using biometric authentication only, without requiring additional verification.In addition, the nation's financial authorities have pushed ahead with more use of biometrics in financial transactions, regarding the technology as one of the safest identification methods.The Financial Services Commissio

Oct 23, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk
Samsung, Google biometric flaws mar fintech innovation

Samsung, Kakao join hands for insurance biz

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance headquarters in Seoul / Korea Times fileBy Park Jae-hyukSamsung Fire & Marine Insurance and KakaoPay have formed a partnership to establish an internet-only non-life insurance firm, the companies said Wednesday.An internet-only non-life insurer is an insurance company that is allowed to sell insurance via computers or mobile devices only.The two companies said they plan to apply for preliminary approval from the Financial Services Commission by the end of 2019.“We have been preparing for establishing a digital non-life insurer jointly with Samsung Fire,” a KakaoPay official in a statement. “We are at an early stage, so we have yet to draw up a list of specific products that we want to sell.”Samsung Fire also said it formed a taskforce with KakaoPay to establish an online insurer.Although Samsung Fire said its stake in the insurance firm has not been decided yet, KakaoPay is expected to be the largest shareholder with the controlling stake, while Samsung Fire will serve as a strategic investor.KakaoPay CEO Ryu Young-joon

Oct 23, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk
Samsung, Kakao join hands for insurance biz

Citibank Korea to reward social enterprises

Citibank Korea's main branch in Seoul / YonhapA notice of the 2019 Korea Social Enterprise Awards / Courtesy of Citibank KoreaCitibank Korea said Tuesday it is looking for excellent social enterprises in job creation, social innovation and growth to honor at the forthcoming Korea Social Enterprise Awards event. The U.S.-headquartered bank's Korean subsidiary will receive applications until Nov. 11, and a judging committee comprised of experts in various fields will select the awardees.The award ceremony will take place on Dec. 19.Marking the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Social Enterprise Promotion Act, and the 50th anniversary of Citigroup entering the Korean market, Citibank Korea started rewarding excellent social enterprises here in 2017 to encourage innovation.Since then, it has found social enterprises that have supported vulnerable social groups and made efforts to solve various social problems.In addition, Citibank Korea has supported the Impact Career Youth program through cooperation with the non-profit corporation, Root Impact.The program is aimed at helpin

Oct 23, 2019
Citibank Korea to reward social enterprises

Banks face double whammy on falling key rates

By Kim Bo-eunLocal banks are facing tough times, suffering from falling profitability and worsening financial soundness following a couple of rate cuts by the central bank amid the deepening global downturn.The Bank of Korea (BOK) cut its key rate by 0.25 percentage points Oct.16 to a record-low 1.25 percent, the second such move this year, after lowering the rate from 1.75 percent to 1.5 percent in July.The credit easing is reducing bank's interest rates, which in turn affects their net interest margin (NIM). The margin, the difference between the rate a bank charges for loans and what it pays for deposits, is considered a measure of profitability, and has been falling in line with the BOK's cuts. The four major commercial banks ― Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori and KEB Hana ― all saw their NIM fall by between 0.01 and 0.05 percentage points in the second quarter from the previous one.As such, it is inevitable that their profitability will fall further after the rate cut a week ago.To make up for the fall in the NIM, the lenders have sought to increase non-interest income but incidents i

Oct 22, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
Banks face double whammy on falling key rates

Football competition for foreign workers

Participants of KB Kookmin Bank's KB Star Cup football competition for foreign workers pose after the event held at the lender's training center in Cheonan, Sunday. This was the first competition, in which four teams representing Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia and Vietnam took part. / Courtesy of KB Kookmin Bank

Oct 22, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
Football competition for foreign workers

Asiana bid likely to be two-way race

Asiana Airlines' Airbus A350 / Korea Times fileBy Kim Bo-eunThe bidding for Asiana Airlines is likely to be a two-way race, as Aekyung Group has joined hands with Stonebridge Capital.The Aekyung consortium is set to compete with a consortium of Hyundai Development Company and Mirae Asset Daewoo, which has been considered the strongest contender thus far.The Aekyung-Stonebridge partnership came over a month after Kumho E&C and Asiana's creditors selected four parties as candidates ― the HDC consortium, Aekyung Group, Stonebridge Capital and a consortium of KCGI and Banker Street ― on Sept. 10.Aekyung, which operates the country's largest budget carrier Jeju Air, was seeking a financial investor. Stonebridge Capital had been looking for a strategic investor.This is because Asiana's creditors and financial authorities have banned financial investors alone from bidding, as they are seeking an entity that will actually take over the airline to continue its operations, which is the strategic investor's role.Stonebridge earlier invested in 10 percent of Aekyung's shares.The consortium w

Oct 22, 2019By Kim Bo-eun
Asiana bid likely to be two-way race

Lotte Insurance raises W375 bil. by issuing new shares

Lotte Insurance head office in Seoul / Courtesy of Lotte InsuranceBy Jhoo Dong-chanLotte Insurance raised 375 billion won ($319.2 million) by issuing new stocks, the non-life insurer said Monday. The issuing price was 2,130 won per share.It newly issued about 176 million ordinary shares worth 375 billion won on the day. Of them, JKL Partners, Lotte Insurance's largest shareholder, bought 356.25 billion won worth of shares via its subsidiary firm while Hotel Lotte also financed 18.75 billion won worth of shares to maintain its 5 percent stake. “Lotte Insurance's risk-based capital (RBC) ratio has now reached 194.9 percent through its recent recapitalization,” a Lotte Insurance official said. The RBC requirement refers to a rule that establishes minimum regulatory capital for financial institutions.Lotte Insurance's RBC ratio stood at 140.1 percent in June, but managed to raise the ratio through the recapitalization, surpassing the government's minimum recommendation of 150 percent.“Thanks to the recapitalization, Lotte Insurance will be able to withstand shocks from

Oct 21, 2019By Jhoo Dong-chan
Lotte Insurance raises W375 bil. by issuing new shares

JPMorgan, SocGen earn W7.7 bil. from DLF fiasco

A signboard of J.P. Morgan Chase headquarters in New York / AFP-YonhapBy Park Jae-hyukJ.P. Morgan and Societe Generale (SocGen) were found to have enjoyed a combined commission income of 7.77 billion won ($6.6 million) from their sales of derivatives-linked funds (DLFs) which caused major investor losses here, according to a lawmaker, Monday.Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) data given to Rep. Je Youn-kyung of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea showed the U.S. and French investment banks made 1.74 billion won and 2.28 billion won, respectively, in commissions on Woori Bank's sales of DLFs tied to German Treasury bond yields.SocGen gained an additional 3.68 billion won in commissions on KEB Hana Bank's sales of DLFs tied to the constant maturity swap rates of the U.S. dollar and the U.K. pound.The Societe Generale headquarters in Paris / AP-YonhapConsidering the earnings of domestic brokerages and asset management firms, the amount of commission on sales of DLFs reaches 9.2 billion won, according to the lawmaker.As for local brokerages, IBK Securities, NH Investment & Securiti

Oct 21, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk
JPMorgan, SocGen earn W7.7 bil. from DLF fiasco

INTERVIEW 'Take notes, if you want to get super rich'

Shin Dong-il, deputy head of KB Kookmin Bank's Gangnam Star private banking center, holds his recently published book, “Super Rich's Memo,” at his office in southeastern Seoul, Oct. 17. / Korea Times photo by Park Jae-hyukBy Park Jae-hyukGetting super rich may seem to be impossible for most people in this economically polarized society, but those accustomed to “note-taking” have already come one step closer to higher incomes, according to a private banker who is said to have met the largest number of wealthy people in Korea.Shin Dong-il, deputy head of KB Kookmin Bank's Gangnam Star private banking center, said spending only seven minutes a day on taking notes will allow people to achieve their goals faster and easier.The wealth manager, who has 25 years of banking experience including a 13-year career as a private banker, has been well known for sharing wealth-building secrets through his books, such as the best seller, “Super Rich in Korea,” published in 2012.He published another book, “Super Rich's Memo,” in September, to offer speci

Oct 21, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk
[INTERVIEW] 'Take notes, if you want to get super rich'

Banks seek to join hands with online influencers

Risabae, an online influencer and a spokesperson for Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), promotes the bank's financial products. Youtube screen capture By Lee Kyung-min Korea's major banks are strengthening cooperation with online content creators to expand their customer bases. Many of them have teamed up with online influencers including YouTubers and those with a huge number of online followers. Bank employees appear in short promotional clips posted on the banks' social media platforms. KB Kookmin Bank hired Tuatusy, a famous YouTuber with over 710,000 subscribers, to promote its brand following an open competition of 12 “mega-influencers.”The content creator garnered the most votes from users of Liiv, the bank's online platform. “The channel features two toddlers and is very popular with young mothers and the public at large. Promoting financial products on the channel could help us boost brand recognition,” a KB official said.The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea

Oct 20, 2019By Lee Kyung-min
Banks seek to join hands with online influencers
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