SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The financial regulator said Friday it will give preliminary approval next year for two groups to launch Internet-only banks, as the government aims to reinvigorate the banking industry. Choi Jong-ku, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), made the remarks a day after the National Assembly passed a bill [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — A parliamentary committee on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at allowing nonfinancial firms to have up to a 34 percent stake in Internet-only banks, easing the current 4 percent ownership limit for financial industry reform. The National Policy Committee agreed that family-owned conglomerates, known as chaebol, will not be [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — The financial regulator said Tuesday it will help people retrieve money mistakenly sent to wrong bank accounts. The move came as the number of erroneous transactions has been on the rise with more people using their smartphones for money transfers. If a person sends money to a wrong account, [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — On her way home after work, office worker Lee Jun-hee often drops by a nearby bank branch in Gwanghwamun, downtown Seoul. She does so not for banking but for book shopping and “meet the author” events, which are held in a space filled with the aroma of brewing coffee. [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Starting October 1, new insurance subscribers no longer need to reveal their disabilities, so as to ensure fair conditions for the physically challenged people who want to purchase insurance policies. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the previous provision that required insurance plan seekers to notify insurance companies of any [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — The head of the financial regulator said Tuesday that technology firms could become a top shareholder of an Internet-only bank as the government moves to ease regulations on Web-only banks’ ownership structure. Under the current banking law, a nonfinancial firm is banned from owning 4 percent of voting stocks [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Listed companies showed slower growth in net profits in the first half of the year, while banks raked in approximately 20 trillion won in interest fees alone. As the growth rate of listed companies was smaller, banks enjoyed a boom with interest income proving to be a significant driver [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — The amount of money transferred via South Korea’s P2P service applications surged nearly five times on-year in 2017 on the back of its growing popularity among young customers, the financial watchdog said Tuesday. According to the data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the amount of transactions via [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — President Moon Jae-in paid a visit yesterday to a conference to experience new innovations that are changing the fintech sector. The event at Seoul City Hall was held with the goal of vitalizing Internet-based banks. Moon participated in the conference which also showcased various examples of innovative fintech practices [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Prospects for Internet-only banks’ expansion received a major boost as President Moon Jae-in pledged to ease some regulations that ban nonfinancial companies from owning more than a 4 percent stake in a lender. Moon reversed his campaign pledge to keep the regulations intact Tuesday as he attended a meeting [...]