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Tag: woori bank

  • Korea’s Woori Bank partners with Chinese banks on remittance

    Korea’s Woori Bank partners with Chinese banks on remittance

    Woori Bank launched a money-transfer service linked with Chinese banks to allow its customers to readily and easily send money to people holding Chinese bank accounts. On Monday, the bank said the service will be carried out in real time. The partnered entities include the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China, the Bank of Communications and also Chinese financial services company UnionPay.

    The service will charge 10,000 won ($8.9) in fees for a transaction less than 2 million won. For remittance over 2 million won, the charge will increase to a flat rate of 20,000 won.

    The service was jointly developed by Woori Bank, Woori Card and UnionPay. Once a user sends money, the service will notify the user of the transfer result via text message.

    The sender must send Korean won and the receiver will receive Chinese Yuan.

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  • Woori Bank Korea changes its structure

    Woori Bank Korea changes its structure

    The board of Woori Bank approved a plan to convert the bank into a holding company, pushing up its shares on Wednesday.

    An announcement released late Tuesday said the country’s fourth largest bank would overhaul its structure to become an integrated financial service company with diverse non-banking affiliates.

    The holding company will have six affiliates: Woori Bank, Woori Credit Information, Woori Private Equity Asset Management, Woori FIS, Woori Finance Research Institute and Woori Fund Service.

    Woori Card and Woori Investment Bank will remain subsidiaries of the banking unit and may later be turned into separate affiliates under the new holding company, according to Woori Bank in a statement.

    A shareholder meeting will be held by the end of this year to approve the changes.

    “The plan will help boost competitiveness for Woori affiliates,” a source at Woori Bank said, “We will swiftly carry out the procedure.”

    Analysts said the change in corporate structure could increase the maximum amount of investment allowed by regulators to around 8 trillion won ($7.2 billion).

    Sohn Tae-seung, CEO of Woori Bank, has reiterated that the company is already looking to acquire non-banking companies like asset management and securities companies.

    Earlier this month, a local media outlet reported that Woori Bank plans to acquire Kyobo Securities, but Woori said that nothing has been decided.

    Samsung Securities was also among the potential targets cited by different reports, though Woori declined to confirm that.

    Investors welcomed the board’s decision on Wednesday, and shares of Woori Bank rose 5.88 percent to close at 17,100 won.

    “The decision to put the six Woori units under the holding company and keep Woori Card and Woori Investment Bank under Woori Bank will likely serve the interests of shareholders,” said Baek Doo-san, an analyst at Korea Investment & Securities.

    The plan to turn Woori Bank into a holding company accelerated after the Financial Services Commission, the country’s top financial regulator, said it would sell the government’s stake in the bank once the transformation is complete.

    The government holds 18.4 percent of Woori Bank through the state-owned Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation.

  • South Korea’s Woori Bank to form Vietnam unit by July

    South Korea’s Woori Bank to form Vietnam unit by July

    South Korea’s Woori Bank expects to establish a Vietnam unit this month or in July, a bank official said on Tuesday, as part of the lender’s plans to expand its network in the expanding market of Southeast Asia.

    Woori Bank, South Korea’s largest bank in terms of consolidated assets as of the end of March, is awaiting approval from relevant authorities to established a wholly-owned unit in Vietnam, the official said.

    A Vietnamese banking source said the State Bank of Vietnam, the country’s central bank, was expected to grant a licence for the South Korean lender shortly.

    South Korea is now the biggest foreign investor in Vietnam, with large investments placed to turn it into a Southeast Asian production hub by Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and LG Electronics Inc.

    Other major Korean companies in Vietnam include Kumho Construction, Posco group, Hanjin Logistics and Kumho Tire.

    A free trade agreement between South Korea and Vietnam that came into effect last December gives more incentives for Korean firms to invest.

    Woori Bank’s Vietnam unit, once licensed, would most likely be a vehicle to expand South Korean investment in a country where it has been limited to operating two branches. Other competitors include HSBC, ANZ, Standard Chartered Bank as well as Shinhan Bank.

    With the expected approval, Woori Bank would seek to strengthen its localised service to Vietnamese retail customers through channels including its mobile banking platform Wibee Bank and chat app Wibee Talk.

  • Woori Bank to offer insurance products in Indonesia, Vietnam

    Woori Bank to offer insurance products in Indonesia, Vietnam

    South Korea’s commercial bank Woori Bank will join hands with local insurance companies to provide insurance service and products from its global outlets starting with its local unit in Indonesia.

    According to bank sources, the bank will be able to sell insurance products of Hanwha Life Insurance Co. through its Indonesian unit Bank Woori Saudara in the second half of this year. The bank wants to establish up to 300 outlets across the globe and decided to add insurance service, a bank official said.

    Hanwha Life Insurance’s Indonesian operation was established in October 2013 and currently has eight branches and 1,200 insurance planners. It will sell savings insurance products like variable annuity through 131 Bank Woori Saudara outlets. The partnership will be a win-win arrangement for the two since they can save costs by mixing business and sharing business.

    Depending on demand, Woori Bank will also sell non-life insurance products of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co. and KB Insurance Co. via its Indonesian operation.

    Woori Bank will also target Vietnamese bancassurance market in partnership with Hanwha Life Insurance. The bank has two branches in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi in Vietnam. Since the branches have the license to sell bancassurance products, it plans to sell saving insurance products of Hanwha Life Insurance and later products of Samsung Fire & Marine.

    Hanwha Life ranked eighth in terms of new insurance contracts in Vietnam last year. The insurer has 12,500 insurance planners in 54 branches.

    According to Woori Bank, the Indonesian life insurance market has almost doubled from $5.3 billion in 2010 to $9.8 billion in 2014. Vietnam showed similar growth.

  • Gaisanos,Korea’s Woori Bank team up on banking

    Gaisanos,Korea’s Woori Bank team up on banking

    THE GAISANO family has taken in Woori Bank of South Korea as a strategic partner in thrift bank subsidiary Wealth Development Bank Corp. to brace for stiffer competition in the banking system.

    Cebu-based Vicsal Development Corp. (Vicsal), the parent firm of Wealth Development, announced an “investment agreement” with Woori Bank, creating a “strategic alliance” between the foreign bank and one of the country’s leading thrift banks.

    The joint venture combines the global and technical resources of Woori Bank and Viscal. However, the press statement did not disclose how much economic interest the South Korean partner would get in this venture.

    “It is a strategic initiative in response to the liberalization of the country’s banking sector,” WealthBank chair Edward Gaisano said.

    Gaisano added that the deal was expected to increase the net worth of the thrift bank by threefold, strengthen its balance sheet as well as deepen its market reach and product offerings.

    WealthBank claims to be one of the country’s fastest growing independent thrift banks, expanding from just one branch in 2002 to 16 across the country today. The bank has close to P7 billion in assets.

    Under the partnership, WealthBank plans to ride on the world-class facilities and expertise of Woori Bank. It also targets to serve 1.2 million Korean tourists who visit the Philippines yearly as well as the 100,000-strong Korean expatriate community in the country.

    The partnership also seeks to allow WealthBank to cater to overseas Filipino workers in South Korea, as well as local and Korean small and medium enterprises.

    Woori Bank is the oldest and one of the largest banks in Korea. It has the largest Korean bank overseas network with a footprint in 18 countries.

    “This partnership with Woori Bank will unlock the huge potential of WealthBank with the expected synergy. We are excited about the joint venture as it further underscores our commitment to growth through collaboration with world-class companies,” Gaisano said.

    Vicsal has recently strengthened its strategic alliances through joint ventures with other leading global companies such as Ayala Land, Megaworld Corp. and Hong Kong Land.

    Retail unit, Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. (MRSGI) recently debuted on the Philippine Stock Exchange.

    Aside from banking and retailing, Vicsal is also into real estate development through the Taft Property Venture Development Corp. and in financial management through AB Capital. Vicsal is also the majority owner of Filipino Fund Inc., a closed-end mutual fund listed on the local bourse.