KB Savings Bank Launches 'Kiwi Bank'
Offering Savings with Up to 5% Annual Interest
Woori and Industrial Banks Also Introduce Products
But Conditions for Subscription Are Strict
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] As savings and deposit interest rates have fallen to the 1% range, financial companies are actively attracting customers by offering high-interest savings products as bait. This is interpreted as a strategy to retain existing customers (jittochi) while capturing new customers (santokchi). However, experts advise that since strict conditions such as subscribing to partner company products or card usage performance must be met, it is necessary to carefully review the preferential interest rate conditions before signing up.
According to the financial sector on the 16th, KB Savings Bank is selling the first Kiwi Savings with an interest rate of up to 5.0% per annum starting today to commemorate the launch of the mobile financial platform ‘Kiwi Bank’ application (app). It is limited to 10,000 accounts for 12 months.
The basic interest rate is 2.0% per annum, and customers who join the Kiwi Membership can receive a preferential interest rate of 3.0 percentage points. It targets individuals and individual business owners who are transacting with KB Savings Bank for the first time, but the monthly deposit limit is low. Deposits can be made from a minimum of 10,000 KRW to a maximum of 100,000 KRW.
Earlier, on the previous day, Woori Bank launched the ‘Woori Magic 6 Savings’ offering an interest rate of 6.0% per annum. The subscription period for this savings is one year, with a monthly deposit limit of up to 500,000 KRW. The interest rate is a basic rate of 1.5%, plus a preferential interest rate of up to 1.0 percentage point, and a special preferential interest rate of up to 3.5 percentage points, totaling up to about 6.0%. If you fully utilize the monthly deposit limit of 500,000 KRW and receive all preferential interest rates, you can get up to 195,000 KRW (before tax), but the preferential conditions are strict.
The preferential interest rate can be received by subscribing to Woori Bank’s Open Banking service and agreeing to product and service marketing or transferring salary or pension to a Woori Bank account.
The special preferential interest rate requires meeting conditions such as using Woori Card and automatic transfers. New customers must spend more than 6 million KRW annually to receive a 3.0 percentage point interest rate, and if they set up at least one automatic transfer per month with Woori Card, an additional 0.5 percentage point preferential interest rate is given.
IBK Industrial Bank recently partnered with Woongjin ThinkBig and launched the installment savings product ‘IBK Woongjin Smart All Account’ with a maximum annual interest rate of 7.0%. This product offers a basic interest rate of 1.0%, and if you newly subscribe to Woongjin ThinkBig’s AI learning service for elementary students, ‘Woongjin Smart All,’ with a 2-year contract and maintain it until maturity, you receive a preferential interest rate of 6.0 percentage points. The monthly deposit limit is up to 150,000 KRW. It is available through the bank’s mobile banking app ‘i-ONE Bank’ and is sold to the first 10,000 customers until the end of this year.
Shinhan Suhyup Bank is also selling a savings product with an interest rate of 7.9% linked with Shinhan Card. It is a 6-month or 12-month maturity product with a monthly deposit limit of up to 300,000 KRW, but interest can only be received if conditions such as agreeing to Suhyup Bank marketing, automatic transfers, and Shinhan Card usage performance are met.
A financial industry official said, “High-interest products target new customers,” and advised, “Rather than blindly subscribing to products attracted by high interest rates, it is better to carefully check the conditions and limits before proceeding with subscription.”
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