SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The new coronavirus outbreak in South Korea has resulted in the rise of insurance subscriptions through online channels. Thanks to the ease of subscribing to insurance plans on the Internet or via mobile devices, the interest of the middle-aged as well as those in their 20s and 30s has [...]
SEOUL, March 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The National Assembly on Thursday voted down a bill intended to loosen the eligibility requirement for the largest shareholder of an internet-only bank. A revision of the Act on Special Cases Concerning Establishment and Operation of Internet-only Banks failed to pass in parliament, as 82 of 184 lawmakers on [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Major non-life insurance firms in South Korea saw their combined net profit fall 39.5 percent last year due to increased losses from their automobile and health insurance segments, industry data showed Sunday. The top eight non-life insurance firms operating in the country reported a combined net profit of 1.75 [...]
GWANGJU, Jan. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Automated teller machines (ATMs) are increasingly losing ground due to a boost in credit card use and the growing popularity of Internet and mobile banking. Some predict that these automated banking devices, which have drastically changed financial culture, will gradually disappear into history. According to data from Kwangju Bank, [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of counterfeit South Korean banknotes dropped to a new record low in 2019, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Wednesday, due to what it called an enhanced security system that quickly leads to the arrest of those who produce or use fake bills. In 2019, the number [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean general insurance companies are suffering from slowing growth and losses. The Korea Insurance Development Institute reported that total premium income among local general insurance companies in 2018 was 89.8 trillion won ($76.1 billion), up by only 3.4 percent from the previous year. The growth rate of the [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — A bill has recently been proposed to consider pet insurance as equivalent to human insurance plans, raising new controversies as to how pets are to be identified in insurance programs. The bill, proposed by Rep. Kim Byung-wook of the ruling Democratic Party, intends to consider pet insurance plans as [...]
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 [...]