Business - The Korea Times

Financial firms adopt AI, bolster customer education to fight phishing, fraud

A 70-year-old homemaker surnamed Kim, who lives in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, recently received a phone call from someone impersonating a prosecutor. The caller told her that her bank account was linked to criminal activity and urged her to transfer her assets to a "safe" account. Alarmed, Kim followed the instructions and was prompted to install a specific mobile application on her smartphone. According to the scammer's guidance, she then called her bank to request the necessary transaction. During the call, the bank’s voice analysis system's artificial intelligence (AI) detected abnormal emotional patterns in Kim’s voice, including signs of fear and anxiety. Sensing something suspicious, the banker halted the transaction and verified the situation, preventing a financial crime before it was too late. Financial institutions are ramping up their efforts to safeguard vulnerable customers by enhancing scam detection technologies and broadening educational outreach. Samsung Life Insurance has rolled out the industry's first AI-based voiceprint verification system, which analyzes a custome

Jul 15, 2025By Jun Ji-hye

Financial firms adopt AI, bolster customer education to fight phishing, fraud

Inside Toss: How culture has built world's fastest-growing fintech

A message popped up at 12:04 a.m. on May 8, 2020. Wang Sang-ho, a team member at Toss, shared news about how the public certificate system was causing issues with the government's COVID-19 emergency relief fund inquiry service. "How about we give it a try?" the members said. By 2:30 p.m., they had formed a task force team. Only three days remained until the official fund application period began, and it was Friday. Over the weekend, they completed service development, updates and the customer service manual, and the service launched successfully. The CEO wasn’t briefed on the process. Startups can succeed for many reasons, but company culture is often overlooked as a key factor. Toss understands its importance, according to Jeong Hee-yeun, its chief human resources officer. Toss launched in 2015 and quickly revolutionized mobile finance in Korea. It boasts 28 million users as of May, making it the top-ranked service in the finance sector. Now, with expansions into banking, securities, insurance and payment, Toss has grown into a small financial empire. Many say the driving force behind

Jul 14, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo

Inside Toss: How culture has built world's fastest-growing fintech

Kbank showcases AI-powered personalization model in academic journal

A research paper authored by Kbank employees detailing the bank's personalized recommendation system powered by artificial intelligence (AI) has been published in a leading academic journal in Korea, the bank said Monday. The publication reflects academic recognition of the company's research capabilities in AI technology, it added. The paper appeared in the Journal of the Korean Data Analysis Society (JKDAS), published by the Korean Data Analysis Society (KDAS). The journal is one of Korea's major academic publications and listed in the Korea Citation Index (KCI). Kwon Hyuk-min, Lee Sang-hyun and Cho Yong-geol of the internet-only bank's data intelligence team co-authored the paper, titled "Strategic Design of an AI-Based Recommendation System and Its Impact on User Experience: An MLOps-Driven Experimental Study in a Financial App." MLOps stands for machine learning operations. The paper presents an empirical study on the impact of the bank's AI-powered personalized recommendation system on customer behavior, user experience and overall business performance. The research is considered a m

Jul 14, 2025By Jun Ji-hye

Kbank showcases AI-powered personalization model in academic journal

InterviewCiti steps up support for global investors amid Korea's market reforms

Korea is emerging as an increasingly attractive destination for global investors. From the elimination of the foreign investor registration requirement to its anticipated entry into the FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI), Korea is accelerating an unprecedented wave of market liberalization. These changes are opening new doors for global financial companies, especially those with robust cross-border infrastructure and needs. Against this backdrop, Shahmir Khaliq, Citi’s global head of services, visited Korea recently. The Korea Times sat down with Khaliq for an exclusive interview to discuss Citi’s global strategy for services and the importance of Korea to its global network. Q. Citi Services is strategically important to Citi’s overall franchise. How is the business contributing to Citi’s performance? A. Services is often the gateway to Citi for large institutional clients. Our Services business sits at the heart of Citi’s global network with an industry footprint spanning 94 markets, including a proprietary sub-custody network in 63 of them. We serve around 19,000 client

Jul 14, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo

Citi steps up support for global investors amid Korea's market reforms

Seoul shares start slightly higher despite tariff woes

Korean stocks opened a tad higher Monday despite renewed tariff threats by U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) climbed 7.15 points, or 0.23 percent, to 3,182.92 as of 11:20 a.m. On Saturday (U.S. time), Trump said he has sent letters to key trade partners, including the European Union and Mexico, threatening duties of 30 percent on imports and setting the negotiations deadline on Aug. 1. In Seoul, major shares started in mixed territory. Market bellwether Samsung Electronics fell 0.8 percent, and its chipmaking rival SK hynix rose 2.21 percent. Top carmaker Hyundai Motor added 0.72 percent, but its sister Kia retreated 0.6 percent. K-pop powerhouse Hybe declined 0.18 percent, and entertainment giant CJ ENM increased 0.58 percent. The local currency was trading at 1,376.55 won against the U.S. dollar at 11:20 a.m., down 1.15 won from the previous session.

Jul 14, 2025By Yonhap

Seoul shares start slightly higher despite tariff woes

PHOTO Woori marks integration of Tongyang, ABL

Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong, center, applauds after presenting business kits, including employee ID cards, name cards and badges, to four employee representatives from Tongyang Life Insurance and ABL Life Insurance during the Woori WON Day event at Seoul Dragon City, Friday. The financial holding company said Sunday that the event was held to highlight its commitment to evolving into a comprehensive financial group, following the completion of its acquisition of the two insurers on July 2. Courtesy of Woori Financial Group

Jul 13, 2025

[PHOTO] Woori marks integration of Tongyang, ABL

InterviewFrom Excel to AI: L&DC transforms property development planning

Proptech, a portmanteau of property and technology, refers to technologies and services that leverage IT to enhance efficiency and create new value in the real estate industry. To apply this concept, Lee Doek-heang, also known as Henry Lee and the founder and CEO of L&DC, has focused on one of the most repetitive and labor-intensive areas in the industry: feasibility analysis for real estate development projects. Traditionally, this process required analysts to manually compare dozens of Excel files to evaluate each potential development site. Reviewing around 20 candidate sites in the Seoul metropolitan area could take one to two days per site, resulting in several weeks of work for a full review. The manual nature of the process not only made it time-consuming but also prone to human error and forcing teams to start over when mistakes occurred. Such inefficiencies can lead to missed investment opportunities or decisions based on incomplete or inaccurate information. To address these inefficiencies, L&DC developed the LanDup platform, which was officially launched in July last year. By s

Jul 12, 2025By Jun Ji-hye

From Excel to AI: L&DC transforms property development planning

Telecom companies urged to work closer with banks against phishing scams

Telecommunications companies are urged to take a more active role in countering voice phishing scams, as commercial banks have a limited ability to prevent the financial crimes, with a broader level of cooperation essential across industry borders, critics said Friday. They noted that multiple lenders have been offering insurance, free to their customers, to help victims of voice phishing scams make up losses. These companies include Shinhan Bank, which compensates up to 20 million won ($14,540), and Woori Bank, which compensates up to 10 million won, to each victim based on a police-issued report that shows the amount lost to a scam. Additionally, Shinhan Bank has adopted artificial intelligence (AI) to more thoroughly monitor any suspected financial transactions via its ATMs nationwide, while Woori Bank has been awarding outstanding employees who prevent voice phishing scams. “Despite all these efforts in the financial sector, voice phishing scams continue to persist as banking customers are still exposed to crimes that begin with a phone call,” a researcher at an advocate group fo

Jul 11, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Telecom companies urged to work closer with banks against phishing scams

Securities firms expand into currency exchange

Securities firms are rushing to attract customers other than stock traders in the currency exchange sector as they compete with commercial banks, which have long dominated the sector, according to industry officials on Thursday. The officials said Kiwoom Securities and Shinhan Securities will begin exchanging foreign currencies for a wider range of customers this year, while preparation for the service is underway for Samsung Securities, NH Investment & Securities and Mirae Asset Securities. Previously, securities firms were only allowed to exchange foreign currencies for the purposes of securities investment. The restriction limited them from serving a wider variety of customers, including travelers, international students and those running a business abroad. As a result, currency exchange was considered the exclusive domain of banks. The Ministry of Economy and Finance then revised the policy on foreign exchange transactions in 2023, opening the door wider for brokerage houses and other financial services companies to serve general customers if they meet certain criteria. Multiple secur

Jul 10, 2025By Yi Whan-woo

Securities firms expand into currency exchange

Goldman Sachs bets on Hongdae real estate amid Korea tourism boom

Goldman Sachs Alternatives has completed the acquisition of the Mercure Ambassador Seoul Hongdae, a 4-star hotel and mixed-use retail property located in the heart of Seoul, the company said Thursday. The hotel, which features 270 guest rooms, is currently operated by Seohan Tourism Development under the Mercure brand, part of the global hospitality group Accor. The property's lower floors house major domestic retail companies that are expanding their offline presence. The space is also set to serve as a flagship location for leading e-commerce firms to showcase and sell their private-label products. Goldman Sachs Alternatives noted that the acquisition is well positioned to capitalize on resurging inbound tourism to Korea and the continued global interest in Korean culture. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, international visitor arrivals climbed to 16.3 million in 2024 — a 48 percent year-on-year increase — bringing the country close to prepandemic levels. Regional data further shows that Seoul's Mapo District, where the property is located, attracted 8.8 million internat

Jul 10, 2025By Lee Yeon-woo

Banking & Finance