SEOUL, April 11 (Korea Bizwire) – Seven major credit card companies are being accused of exploiting their customers after reports emerged showing they profited handsomely from high-interest loans despite prevailing low interest rates. Low interest rates in South Korea are seeing credit card companies enjoy some of the biggest profit spikes in recent years, with some [...]
SEJONG, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea’s financial services industry recorded 9.2 percent in output growth last year largely driven by interest revenues from growing household loans, government data showed on Sunday. According to Statistics Korea, the year-on-year production growth of financial institutions in 2016 was more than triple the 3 percent reported for the overall services industry. By institution, banks gained 9 percent, the highest since 11.8 percent in 2008. Nonbank [...]
SEOUL, April. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – K Bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank that opened Monday after months of anticipation, is already off to a good start, leaving more excitement for the upcoming launch of the second bank of its kind, Kakao Bank. Over 100,000 locals had opened a K Bank account as of Thursday, [...]
SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s first Internet-only bank, K-Bank, has attracted more than 60,000 accounts in just two days since launching operations, the lender said Tuesday. K-Bank, formed by a consortium of KT Corp., Woori Bank and 19 other companies, began its operations at midnight Sunday. The pace of growth in K-Bank’s [...]
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) – Internet-only banks will promote innovation in South Korea’s financial sector that has been struggling with slower growth and slim margins, the financial regulator head said Monday. Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), made the remarks as one of two Internet banks, K-Bank, launched its operations earlier [...]
SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) – The Export-Import Bank of Korea, one of South Korea’s state-run policy banks, suffered a net loss of 1.46 trillion won (US$1.3 billion) last year, hit by higher provisions against its loans extended to the country’s ailing shipbuilding industry. It was the first time that the bank reported an annual [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) – The Internet bank of Kakao Corp., South Korea’s dominant chat app, is expected to win a final regulatory approval early next month, an industry source said Thursday, clearing the final hurdle for Kakao to launch the nation’s second Internet bank. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) will hold a meeting [...]
SEOUL, March 29 (Korea Bizwire) – The South Korean currency is expected to strengthen further against the U.S. dollar for the time being on the Fed’s confirmation of its tight monetary policy and other factors, analysts said Wednesday. With the greenback remaining weak against major Asian monetary units, the local currency is highly likely to [...]
SEOUL, March 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Banks in South Korea sharply downsized their headcounts, branches and automated instruments in 2016 to cut costs amid rapid growth in mobile and Internet banking, government data showed Tuesday. The combined workforce of lenders operating in the country stood at 114,775 as of the end of last year, down [...]
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) – Two-thirds of South Korean firms plan to increase their spending on facility investment this year, a survey by the central bank showed Monday, as the nation’s exports show signs of a recovery. The Bank of Korea said in a statement that 66.7 percent of the 271 manufacturers checked said [...]