Hana breaks ground for new headquarters in Incheon

Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai, center, and officials from the company and Cheongna International City, hold shovels in a groundbreaking ceremony of Hana's new headquarters in Cheongna, Incheon, Tuesday. Courtesy of Hana Financial Group.

By Lee Min-hyung

Hana Financial Group held Tuesday a groundbreaking ceremony for its new headquarters in Cheongna International City in Incheon, with a view to bringing the group's digital infrastructure into the new office space.

Hana is set to complete construction of the new group headquarters by February 2025. Officials from six major affiliates of the financial firm will move into the office after its completion. They include Hana Bank, Hana Financial Investment, Hana Card and Hana Insurance, according to the financial holding firm.

The move is part of Hana's group-wide vision of strengthening its digital capabilities amid the rise of digital banking. The nation's third-largest financial holding firm by market capitalization hopes to become a customer-oriented and data-powered financial service provider, upgrading its decades-long image as one of the major commercial banks here.

Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tai also urged its employees to adopt a digital mindset in his New Year address by titling its 2022 management strategy, “Beyond Finance,” under which Hana aims to become a data-driven financial information company.

More than 2,800 employees of the aforementioned Hana affiliates will work at the 15-story building being designed by NBBJ.

“The new group headquarters will serve as our strong offline platform by being open to visitors all year round, as part of our efforts to build a symbiotic relationship with the people of the region,” Kim said. “We also hope the place becomes a tourist attraction for foreigners when they visit Korea.”

In 2017, Hana finished the construction of its converged data center at the industrial cluster. About 1,800 officials specializing in financial technology are working at the center.

The financial group also built its manpower development institute called Hana Global Campus in May 2019 there.

The development of the area forms part of Hana's decade-long project of building a “Hana Dream Town.” Under the project, the company invested 730 billion won since 2014, so its core facilities will be brought together in Cheongna by 2025.

Hana's new chairman nominee Ham Young-joo also reiterated his strong willingness to enhance its digital drive with the new group headquarters.

Hana Dream Town is the first of its kind among the nation's major financial holding firms. No other financial company here has pushed for such a two-track strategy by running de facto dual headquarters in Seoul and another region.

Cheongna International City expects Hana Dream Town to create more than 7,600 jobs after the construction of the headquarters.