SEOUL, Jul. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Bank, South Korea’s second Internet-only bank, said Friday it attracted over 300,000 accounts during the bank’s first day of operations, far outpacing the growth of its competitor and traditional banks. Kakao Bank, led by Kakao Corp., operator of Korea’s dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, started operations Thursday, in the [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s second Internet-only bank, Kakao Bank, is set to begin operations Thursday, in the latest move by the government to reinvigorate the nation’s banking sector suffering from weaker growth. The planned launch of Kakao Bank, led by Kakao Corp., operator of Korea’s dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, came after [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s rapidly aging population is likely to reduce the nation’s overseas equities investment as seniors will likely move to sell assets due to falling living standards, researchers at the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Wednesday. As the global financial markets become more interconnected, older people will have a [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will lower the maximum legal lending rate to 24 percent from next year and strengthen supervision of private lenders, in a move to help ease financial burdens for desperate borrowers, the nation’s top financial regulator said Wednesday. Choi Jong-ku, the new chairman of the Financial Services Commission [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will cut credit card processing fees for small merchants starting later this month, in the latest move to push forward pro-consumer regulations against commission fees charged by financial service providers, the financial regulator said Tuesday. The move is in line with a campaign pledge by President Moon [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — The combined spending by banks on social contributions again fell in 2016, marking its fourth straight year of decline despite their healthier earnings, industry data showed Monday. According to the data by the Korea Federation of Banks, 21 financial institutions, including five major retail banks, spent a total of [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — A decision to allow business owners and government employees to access Individual Retirement Plans (IRP) has the financial services industry abuzz. On the July 23, industry sources confirmed that the IRP’s current parameters for applicable clients will be expanded starting July 26. The reason for general excitement among banks, [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Global app-based rideshare service operator Uber Technologies Inc. and South Korea’s KB Financial Group Inc. have signed an agreement to work together to launch a domestic food delivery service, the financial conglomerate said Monday. Uber is expected to launch the food delivery service, UberEATS, in South Korea by the [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The size of assets under management by South Korea’s state pension fund surpassed the 600 trillion won (US$536.2 billion) mark for the first time ever, the government said Sunday. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the total value of funds controlled by the National Pension Service (NPS) [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean law enforcement agencies have revealed that 108 colleges entered into illicit agreements credit card companies, and received rebates for giving them exclusive rights to processing tuition payments by credit card. Financial authorities are considering imposing administrative sanctions on the card companies for their improper transactions. The Southern Gyeonggi Provincial [...]