By Choi Kyong-ae
Hana Bank suffered a brief computer system breakdown late Thursday as it upgraded its system ahead of the launch next month of KEB Hana Bank.
“For about 30 minutes, from 9 p.m. last night, Hana Bank’s automatic teller machines and cash dispenser services were suspended. Some Internet banking services were not available due to the system breakdown,” a bank spokesman said Friday.
But all the services are now back to normal, he said.
Such a system failure is rare. It happened as Hana Bank and KEB are stepping up their efforts to integrate their computer systems into “one bank,” the spokesman said.
At their separate shareholders meetings, Hana and KEB shareholders recently gave approval to the merger plan, ending years of delays due to disagreements and disputes between KEB and its labor union over the plan, Hana Bank said.
The two banks’ integration committee will select a new chief executive who will lead the new, merged bank largely based on his capability in terms of post-merger integration and contribution to past earnings of Hana or KEB, later this month, the bank said.
The CEO candidates for the merged entity include Hana Bank CEO Kim Byung-ho, KEB CEO Kim Han-jo and Hana Bank Deputy President Ham Yeong-ju, it said.
The new CEO will be decided at the end of this month before KEB Hana Bank starts operations on Sept. 1, the spokesman said.
Under one roof, Hana and KEB plan to seek synergy through the merger and strengthen their overseas businesses based on combined sales networks. Banks now face declining net interest margins due to record-low rates and tougher competition in the saturated domestic market.
In February 2012, Hana Financial Group acquired a majority 51.02 percent stake in KEB for $3.8 billion from Dallas-based Lone Star Funds. Hana, KEB and its union then agreed to complete integration by February 2017.
But as management at Hana Bank and KEB pushed forward the merger years before the agreed upon schedule, KEB union workers strongly objected to the idea due to concerns over job cuts.
The management at the two banks said the two-bank system could not guarantee profitability and survival over the long-term.