SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – Bitcoin – once hailed as the world’s digital currency of the future – is gradually waning in popularity. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the amount of bitcoin in circulation at three of Korea’s largest bitcoin exchanges was 1.49 million from January to October this year, a number that [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea has decided to reset its push to become a regional financial hub, reflecting a change in related global circumstances, authorities announced Thursday. Despite the government’s initiative that started in 2008, foreign financial firms have withdrawn or scaled down their businesses in Asia’s fourth-biggest economy. In a relevant [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of cash dispensers (CD) and automated teller machines (ATM) fell for a second straight year in 2015 on growing demand for Internet and mobile banking services, South Korea’s central bank said Thursday. The Bank of Korea said the number of CDs and ATMs across the country came [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – With a parliamentary vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye two days away, the glare of investor attention is focused on its outcome with a rejection more likely to increase stock market volatility than a passage, analysts said Wednesday. Opposition parties and some ruling party lawmakers are slated to put [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 6 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s Shinhan Bank said its Indonesian unit, Bank Shinhan Indonesia (BSI), has completed a merger with another Indonesian bank in the latest move to seek a new growth engine in the world’s fourth most populous country. BSI won an approval from the Indonesian financial authorities for its plan [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – The Bank of Korea announced Thursday a pilot project to allow convenience store customers to charge their prepaid public transportation cards using spare change, the first step forward to a “coinless society.” According to representatives, the BOK will begin a selection process of convenience store franchises that will take [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – A bill was proposed stiffening monetary penalties and prison sentences for illegal stock trading made with inside information and price manipulation, people in the financial community said Monday. The bill submitted by Rep. Kim Young-joo of main opposition Democratic Party would allow monetary fines in the amount two to [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The ratio of South Korean savings banks’ loans extended to households hit a record amid shrinking corporate investment, data showed Sunday. Their outstanding loans totaled 41.1 trillion won (US$34.9 billion) as of end-September, up 15.77 percent from the end of last year, according to the Bank of Korea’s economic [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – It’s been a month since Korea began the pilot operation of a robo-advisor for financial investments, and thus far, it has left some positive impressions. According to Koscom, an IT solution company that’s overseeing the test bed, the AI-based system managed to make a profit on all portfolios investing [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s financial authorities said Thursday they will step up efforts to streamline Internet banking procedures by promoting the removal of unnecessary security software and the minimum use of digital certificates. The measures are part of the government’s financial reform drive, and were drawn up by a council of [...]