Lee Moon-hwan, CEO of K Bank, "Committed to Disrupting Non-Face-to-Face Finance"... Apartment Mortgage Loans Launching This Month (Comprehensive)

Launch of Advanced Technology-Based Contactless Apartment Mortgage Loans This Month
Credit Loans Increased by 170 Billion KRW in 15 Days Last Month with 3 New Types

Lee Moon-hwan, CEO of K Bank, held a press conference on the morning of the 4th at the Korea Federation of Banks in Jung-gu, Seoul, to explain the non-face-to-face apartment mortgage loan product to be launched this month. (Photo by K Bank)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyojin] "We will focus on 'disrupting the domain' of non-face-to-face finance, led by apartment mortgage loans." Lee Moon-hwan, CEO of K-Bank, presented this management blueprint.

On the morning of the 4th, Lee held a press conference at the Korea Federation of Banks in Jung-gu, Seoul, revealing this plan and stating, "We will continuously introduce innovative products and services to expand the scope of non-face-to-face finance." He also set a goal to "accelerate synergy with shareholders and more than double the major achievements made over the past three years by the end of the year."

K-Bank unveiled the soon-to-be-launched non-face-to-face apartment mortgage loan product after more than two years of development. The bank plans to launch this product within this month.

Using income information scraping technology, customers can easily check the estimated limit and interest rate without issuing any additional documents. The required documents for loan execution have been drastically reduced to just two: income verification documents (two years of withholding tax receipts or confirmation of income tax withholding) and the registered deed (certificate of registration).

Documents can be authenticated simply by taking photos and entering the registration number, without visiting a branch or sending a fax. The consent procedures for spouses and household members are also fully implemented via mobile, making the loan process more convenient, according to K-Bank. With the introduction of the banking industry's first electronic repayment authorization form, all delegation procedures required for refinancing can be completed via mobile. The apartment mortgage loan process, which previously required at least one or two visits to a community service center or bank branch, has been significantly reduced.

As a result, the time from loan application to approval has been shortened to as little as two days. The interest rate, as of the previous day, starts at an annual rate of 1.64%. The somewhat complex preferential interest rate conditions have been simplified to a transfer performance of at least 500,000 KRW per month to a K-Bank account. If the customer already has an apartment mortgage loan, refinancing up to 500 million KRW is also possible. For customers who find it difficult to obtain unsecured loans, apartment mortgage loans up to 100 million KRW can be used for living expenses.

"We will more than double key indicators through full-scale operations in the second half of the year"
"Accelerating various linked promotions and strengthening non-face-to-face corporate finance"

K-Bank started normalizing operations by launching the parking account 'Plus Box' on the 1st of last month, followed by three types of unsecured loan products on the 13th. K-Bank's deposit balance increased by about 480 billion KRW compared to the previous month, and the loan balance increased by 170 billion KRW within about half a month after the product launch. Based on these results, K-Bank plans to fully ramp up operations in the second half of the year and more than double its key indicators from the current levels.

K-Bank also plans to significantly strengthen promotions linked with KT this month. The strategy is to attract customers by increasing benefits when paying KT communication fees with K-Bank accounts or check cards. They also revealed plans to utilize over 2,500 KT agencies nationwide as offline promotional channels for K-Bank. Additionally, they will diversify their product portfolio by launching partnership savings products in collaboration with Woori Card.

Furthermore, K-Bank is discussing ways to create synergies in various areas such as card business cooperation and Paybook linkage with BC Card, its largest shareholder. K-Bank also plans to launch the '010 Virtual Account' service in the second half of the year through a partnership with fintech company Settle Bank. By generating virtual accounts using mobile phone numbers, convenience will be enhanced and financial accidents prevented. K-Bank expects this to be an alternative for customers who prefer bank transfer deposits via virtual accounts instead of card payments.

K-Bank is also expanding non-face-to-face financial operations into the business-to-business (B2B) sector. K-Bank explained, "With 100% non-face-to-face enrollment and free transfer fees, we have reduced both financial costs and time for companies." On the 15th of last month, K-Bank launched a corporate fixed deposit with an annual interest rate of 1.35%, the highest level in the banking sector. K-Bank also plans to launch a 'Personal Business Owner Credit Loan' applying an advanced credit scoring system (CSS) within the second half of the year.