SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Insurance plans for Alzheimer’s disease have jumped in sales after the illness gained public interest in recent months. The Korea Credit Information Services reported on Wednesday that the number of applications for Alzheimer’s insurance plans reached 1.3 million early last year, up threefold since the second half of the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of banknotes and coins destroyed due to damage or contamination reached a 10-year high in 2019, with the face value of the damaged bills and coins growing slightly from a year earlier, the central bank said Wednesday. The Bank of Korea (BOK) said it had to replace [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s wealth management services market is rapidly expanding as an increasing number of high-net-worth individuals in Asia’s fourth-largest economy look for reliable, effective means to manage their assets. Private banking (PB) and wealth management services have long been exclusively tailored to a limited number of customers that include [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s banking industry is continuing to shrink. Hundreds of employees have already left or are preparing to leave due to special retirement at the end of the year and the beginning of the year. The country’s five major lenders — KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, KEB Hana, and NH [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Debt incurred by households and self-employed businesses in South Korea is estimated to surpass 2,000 trillion won (US$1,713 billion) as of September last year, according to central bank data on Sunday. Outstanding household loans came to 1,481 trillion won at the end of last September, up 13.6 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea formally launched an open banking service on Wednesday in the latest move to boost convenience and lower transaction costs for customers. The new system allows bank customers to use any mobile banking application of their choosing to access their bank accounts at any local bank and to [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial regulator on Monday granted preliminary approval for a new internet-only bank, a move that could further fuel competition with established bigger players and foster the fledging market. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) gave the initial approval to the consortium led by South Korean fintech firm Viva [...]
SEJONG, Dec. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to set up a fund of 300 billion won (US$252 million) to help fintech startups become unicorns with a valuation of more than US$1 billion, Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Wednesday. Hong made the remarks at a meeting with economy-related ministers in Seoul to discuss how [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — More than 2.2 million South Koreans have subscribed to a pilot open banking service in less than one month after its launch, data showed Thursday. Users of the new service, which was launched Oct. 30, numbered 2.27 million as of Tuesday after exceeding the 1 million mark in just [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean banks are going beyond past practices to collaborate with other industries. KB Kookmin Bank’s Liiv Mobile is gaining the attention of the financial services market by combining finance and communications technology. Current legislation states that banks cannot engage in business activities outside of their traditional domain. However, [...]