SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major financial holding firms that control large-sized commercial banks are asking financial authorities to grant them Internet bank licenses as a way to cope with competition from Kakao Bank and K-Bank. The four entities – KB Financial Group Inc., Shinhan Financial Group Co., Woori Financial Group Inc. and [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Citibank Korea Inc. has again postponed a decision on the exit plan for its retail banking unit amid differences over sale terms, industry sources said Tuesday. Citibank Korea, the South Korean unit of Citigroup Inc., had originally planned to hold a board meeting on Aug. 26 to determine how [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — KakaoBank Corp., a major South Korean digital-only bank, said Tuesday its net profit more than doubled in the second quarter from a year earlier, reporting robust earnings after it went public earlier this month. Net profit stood at 69.29 billion won (US$58.85 million) in the April-June period, compared with [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — K-Bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, said Tuesday it turned a profit for the first time since its inception in the second quarter of the year on robust growth in customers and deposits. Net profit stood at 3.9 billion won (US$3.4 million) in the April-June period, a sharp turnaround [...]
SEOUL, July 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial authority said Wednesday it plans to expand the ecosystem of the so-called open banking platform by inviting users of fintech services, allowing more people to enjoy simpler financial transactions. South Korea launched the open banking service in 2019, which centers on allowing customers to use any [...]
SEOUL, July 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean internet-only bank Kakao Bank Corp. drew a tepid response from retail investors for its initial public offering (IPO), with deposits for the stock offering at a smaller-than-expected 58.3 trillion won (US$50.5 billion), according to its IPO managers Tuesday. During the two-day subscription, the subscription rate stood at [...]
SEOUL, July 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Bank, South Korea’s largest internet-only bank, will seek to expand into new business areas and become the country’s No. 1 financial platform, the company’s CEO said Tuesday. “Kakao Bank will strive to emerge as the top financial platform and break into such areas as insurance, fund and asset [...]
SEOUL, July 1 (Korea Bizwire) — K-Bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, said Thursday its customers and deposits grew sharply in the second quarter of the year amid the coronavirus outbreak. The number of customers stood at 6.19 million as of the end of June, 2.28 million more than three months earlier, the lender said, [...]
SEOUL, June 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s financial regulator on Wednesday granted the final approval for a new internet-only bank, a move that could further fuel competition with established bigger players. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) gave the approval to the consortium led by South Korean fintech firm Viva Republica, which operates the popular [...]
SEOUL, June 7 (Korea Bizwire) — In response to the challenge posed by tech giants making inroads in the banking industry, traditional financial services companies such as banks and credit card issuers are going on the counterattack. Credit card companies are preparing to launch an ‘open pay’ service that enables customers to register and use [...]