SEOUL, June 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) revealed Tuesday that it has decided to implement a ‘Paparazzi Policy for Financial Malpractice’, through which informants can receive up to 10 million won ($8,600) in rewards. The policy will be operated until year’s end in order to dissuade unlawful financial activities, and encourage [...]
SEOUL, June 21 (Korea Bizwire) – With an increasing number of consumers who have grown more careful and rational in their spending, newly-built apartments are offering various common facilities and services to reduce consumer burdens and maximize convenience. Hyundai Engineering & Construction has implemented a car-sharing service at its latest apartment complex, Hill State Dongtan, [...]
SEOUL, Jun. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s top mobile messenger operator Kakao Corp. said Monday its mobile payment platform Kakao Pay currently has more than 10 million users, roughly 19 months after its launch in the country. Introduced in September 2014 and similar to the world-famous PayPal, users pre-register their credit and debit cards, [...]
SEOUL, June 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Deposit interest rates have fallen so low that consumers can’t even pay a single ATM fee with their annual interest income, and their distress is compounded by the latest policies from the big banks to increase wire transfer and ATM fees. The annual nominal interest rate for a savings [...]
SEOUL, June 17 (Korea Bizwire) – While investigations into Lotte Group, one of Korea’s top five conglomerates, regarding slush funds are marring its reputation, the “skyscraper curse”, a popular belief that a country or a company that constructs a skyscraper eventually confronts a mishap, is in the public eye. Construction on the second Lotte World (Lotte [...]
SEOUL, June 17 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s salaried workers spent less on congratulatory and condolence money for weddings and funerals in the first quarter as they felt the pinch amid an extended economic slowdown, government data showed Friday. In the three months ended March 31, people spent an average of 250,127 won (US$214) to [...]
SEJONG, June 16 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea said Thursday that it will apply tighter liquidity regulations on foreign exchange reserves to its banking operations starting next year to strengthen the liquidity positions of local financial institutions. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance said that it will introduce the foreign exchange liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) [...]
SEOUL, June 15 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent study has shown that mobile applications are the most sought-after means of applying for small loans, credit card loans, and even cash advances. Last month, Internet banking company K Bank commissioned a survey from market researcher Macromill Embrain in which 1,000 people between the ages of 25 and [...]
SEOUL, June 15 (Korea Bizwire) – Thanks to poor net interest margins, which have reached the lowest levels in history, Korean banks are suffering from worsening profitability. According to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the net interest margin for domestic banks in Q1 2016 was 1.55 percent, which was a 0.08 percent decline from Q1 [...]
SEOUL, June 13 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea’s eight major credit card companies (KB, Lotte, BC, Samsung, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, Hyundai) are planning to send an official letter to Visa Inc., protesting its plans to raise the commission for Korean customers’ international transactions. Visa notified the Korean companies in May of its plan to raise the [...]