Business - The Korea Times

Nurturing startups

Shinhan Card's management planning group head Moon Dong-kwon, second from right, and Visa Korea Vice President Lee Joo-yun, third from left, pose with heads of startups and leaders of Shinhan Card's in-house ventures at Shinhan Card headquarters in Seoul, Monday. Shinhan Card said Tuesday it started the “2019 I'm Ventures with Visa” program to nurture startups and its in-house ventures. / Courtesy of Shinhan Card

Jul 23, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk

Financial groups strengthen IT capabilities

KEB Hana Bank Innovation & ICT Group Deputy President Kwon Gil-joo, second from right, poses with officials from the bank and SK C&C at the bank's headquarters in Seoul, July 19. Courtesy of KEB Hana BankBy Lee Kyung-min Financial groups are rushing to beef up their IT capabilities in a move to facilitate digitization, a much-prioritized initiative among global financial services firms. KEB Hana Bank said Monday that it has set up a big data platform, the first Korean bank to do so. The platform will become a hub where data specialists are able to collect, share, analyze and utilize stored data in a more integrated way.This will help the bank outline a long-term, consistent and goal-oriented work process, mainly through greater and faster access to what has widely remained privileged information exclusive to select groups of workers at certain departments.“Data management will be improved significantly,” a KEB Hana official said. “Not only data that had long been shared in-house including accounting or performance figures, but also those on user activities i

Jul 22, 2019By Lee Kyung-min

Financial groups strengthen IT capabilities

'We are nothing without history'

Kim Hyun-jinBy Lee Kyung-min Kim Hyun-jin, a senior manager at Shinhan Financial Group, said organizing a food market to commemorate the heroes of the Independence Movement helped him learn the significance of remembering the “easily forgotten,” Monday. “It is in line with the well-known saying: there is no future for people who forget history. We are nothing without history. We are where we are because of the struggles made by those who lived before us,” Kim said. Organized by the Shinhan Dream Foundation, the one month event, which took place from June 19 to July 21, was part of Shinhan Financial Group's efforts to better honor independence fighters on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the country's China-based provisional government. At the food market in Jongno, Seoul, officials from the group wearing clothes from the early 1900s served food frequently eaten by the independence fighters. The menu included zongzi, a traditional Chinese rice dish made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves.

Jul 22, 2019By Lee Kyung-min

Banks in dilemma over job creation

Jobseekers line up to enter the venue for a job fair hosted by KB Kookmin Bank in this May 28 file photo. The nation's commercial banks are in a dilemma over their recruitment, due to government pressure to hire more workers despite a decline in demand for employees in the financial sector. / Korea Times fileBy Park Jae-hyukThe nation's commercial banks are having difficulty in making final decisions on their recruitment for the second half, due to the government pressure to hire more workers despite a decline in demand for employees in the financial sector, banking industry officials said Thursday.Following an increase in non-face-to-face transactions driven by digitization in the bank industry, local banks have faced the necessity of organizational downsizing.The Moon Jae-in administration's initiative for job creation, however, is attempting to force them to go against the general trend and hire more employees.One of the government measures weighing on the banks is the Financial Services Commission's (FSC) forthcoming announcement of each bank's job creation “effect.”T

Jul 22, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk

Samgyetang for senior citizens

NH NongHyup Financial Group Chairman Kim Gwang-soo serves samgyetang, a ginseng chicken soup, to a senior citizen at Sindang Daycare Center in Seoul, Monday. The financial group said it served 150 senior citizens to mark “Jungbok,” the second of the three hottest days of the year on the lunar calendar. / Courtesy of NH NongHyup Financial Group

Jul 22, 2019By Park Jae-hyuk

Bank CEOs bracing for tougher conditions in 2nd half

Shinhan Bank CEO Jin Ok-dong addresses executives in a meeting held to reaffirm plans for the latter half of the year, at the bank's training center in Yongin, Friday. / Courtesy of Shinhan BankBy Kim Bo-eunLeaders of major banks pledged to boost performance for the latter half of the year at executive-level meetings held last week, amid an increasingly tough environment for the banking sector.Shinhan Bank CEO Jin Ok-dong stressed customer-centeredness as the bank's core value at a strategy meeting with some 1,000 executives and managers at the bank's training center in Yongin, Friday.“The key performance indicator (KPI) is what should drive the direction of banking and the 'key' in KPI should be customers,” Jin said.“We will increasingly reflect our customers in our assessment system.”The meeting addressed pending tasks such as dealing with the changes the industry is facing due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and adapting to the way the millennial generation works, according to the bank.Woori Financial Group Chairman Sohn Tae-seung speaks at a conferenc

Jul 21, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

Bank CEOs bracing for tougher conditions in 2nd half

CEO hanging out with millennials

KEB Hana Bank CEO Ji Sung-kyoo, front row center, takes a selfie with bank employees at a theater in Daehangno, Seoul, Friday, after watching a play there. The event is part of the CEO's efforts to enhance communication with and better understand millennial generation employees. / Courtesy of KEB Hana Bank

Jul 21, 2019By Kim Bo-eun

KEB Hana introduces banking app for foreigners

Models hold a banner promoting Hana EZ, KEB Hana Bank's new mobile app designed exclusively for foreign customers, at the bank's head branch in Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of KEB Hana BankBy Jhoo Dong-chanKEB Hana Bank rolled out a banking app for foreigners, the bank said Friday.The Hana EZ app offers services in 16 different languages including English, Chinese, Thai, Sri Lankan, Myanmar, Vietnamese, Filipino, Mongolian, Indonesian, Cambodian, Japanese, Bengali, Nepalese, Russian and Uzbek.Satisfying foreign customers' needs, the Hana EZ app features an easy electronic authentication process utilizing a biometric ID method without complex certificate verifications.Customers can also easily wire transfer their money by inputting an account password only. Plus, KEB Hana also started providing non-face-to-face service for foreign customers who want to exchange currencies via the app.“We have worked together closely with foreign customers to develop the Hana EZ app,” a KEB Hana Bank official said. “We studied their needs and inconveniences while banking with domestic ba

Jul 19, 2019By Jhoo Dong-chan

KEB Hana introduces banking app for foreigners

Founder's scandals hamper DB's rebuilding efforts

DB Group former Chairman Kim Jun-kiBy Jhoo Dong-chanDB Group has gone all out to rebuild its corporate image and market status over the past two years since its founder, former Chairman Kim Jun-ki, resigned in 2017 and fled the country after his secretary accused him of sexual harassment two years ago.The group seemed to be finally back on track with memory of the scandal fading, but more allegations against the 74-year-old former chairman have surfaced, this time regarding a sexual assault on a “housemaid.”It changed its name from Dongbu Group in October 2017 in a bid to clean up the group's image after it carried out large-scale restructuring.DB's efforts, however, faced a snag as a series of scandals involving the former chairman surfaced.DB used to be one of the 10 largest conglomerates in Korea, but was forced below the top 30 firms as of the end of 2017.According to Suseo Police Station, the housemaid, who used to work at Kim's mansion in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, pressed charges against Kim in January last year for allegedly raping her twice.The maid told polic