Home / Economy / Financial Market / Archive by category Banking & Insurance (Page 52)

Archive by category Banking & Insurance

Korea’s Financial Services Industry Saw Robust Growth Last Year

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 [...]

Internet-Only Banks Held Back by Government as Financial Landscape Shifts

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, [...]

Korea’s First Direct Bank Attracts over 60,000 Accounts in Just 2 Days

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 [...]

Export-Import Bank of Korea Suffers First Loss in 2016

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 [...]

Kakao’s Internet Bank to Get Final Approval on April 5

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 [...]

Banks Step up Downsizing amid Growing Mobile, Internet Banking

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 [...]

Two-thirds of Firms to Increase Facility Investment This Year: Survey

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 [...]

Report Says Korea Should Look to UK for Autonomous Car Insurance Model

SEOUL, March 20 (Korea Bizwire) – One of the industries that self-driving vehicles will reshape is the insurance sector, and the question of who should take responsibility in the event of an accident is still being debated in several countries, including South Korea, where autonomous vehicles are just starting to be introduced to the market. [...]

Shinhan Bank Abolishes Paper Forms to Boost Productivity

SEOUL, March 13 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s largest financial institution, Shinhan Bank, is scrapping paper forms, and instead, going digital in an all-out effort to raise productivity. From today, all Shinhan branches will provide most banking services digitally, including applications for accounts and credit cards. Shinhan’s bold move to replace paper with digital counterparts [...]

ABS Issuance Dips 27 Pct in 2016 on Weak Property Market

SEOUL, March 7 (Korea Bizwire) – The issuance of asset-backed securities (ABS) in South Korea tumbled nearly 27 percent in 2016 from a year earlier as the local property market remained sluggish, data showed Tuesday. The amount of ABS issues totaled 60.7 trillion won (US$52.6 billion) last year, down 26.8 percent from the previous year, [...]