'Korea lags behind in fintech industry'
Lee Suk-geun, a member of the National Economic Advisory CouncilBy Park Jin-haiLee Suk-geun, a member of the National Economic Advisory Council, a consultative body for President Park Geun-hye, said Korea lags behind in the burgeoning fintech field. “Although what fintech can do is immense, we are slow in adopting it due to skepticism that fintech is just another form of what we have traditionally been doing, coupled with government regulations,” Lee said.Lee, an endowment professor at Sogang Univesity, said the banking industry is now moving to “bankless” services through the Internet and smartphones. Over the decade, while the United Kingdom has embraced fintech and has cut costs by reducing bank branches by 40 percent, Korea has seen only a 2 to 3 percent decrease in branch numbers.Lee graduated summa cum laude from Sogang University, majoring in business administration. Then he completed an MBA course at Chicago University.“Although now none face-to-face transactions make up more than 80 percent of all banking business, banks are hesitant
Aug 13, 2015By Park Jin-hai