[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Regional financial holding companies have recently been expanding their bases in the Seoul area one after another. This move aims to find a breakthrough by targeting the metropolitan area amid worsening business conditions due to the impact of COVID-19 and other factors.
There is also an underlying purpose to respond to the overall digital innovation in the financial sector. Fintech (financial technology) companies and digital specialists are concentrated in the metropolitan area.
DGB Financial Group officials conducting the unveiling ceremony at the DGB Financial Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, in April 2019.
According to the financial sector on the 13th, DGB Financial plans to strengthen its business capabilities by additionally deploying key affiliates DGB Daegu Bank and holding company personnel at the DGB Financial Center located in Jung-gu, Seoul, during the first half of the year.
To establish an advanced base for metropolitan area operations, DGB Financial purchased the former Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering building in 2019 and has been using it as the DGB Financial Center. Currently, only DGB Life Insurance and DGB Capital are housed there, but the plan is to bring in DGB Daegu Bank and the holding company as well, transforming it into a 'Seoul integrated headquarters.'
Once the DGB Financial Center is equipped with such stature, the foundation for digital innovation, which Group Control Tower figures such as Kim Tae-oh, Chairman of DGB Financial, and Lim Sung-hoon, President of DGB Daegu Bank, are focusing on, is expected to be further strengthened.
DGB Daegu Bank has set 'realizing a customer-open digital bank' as its core business goal for this year. To achieve this, it plans to activate partnerships with fintech companies, secondary financial institutions, and companies from different industries located in Seoul and other metropolitan areas.
An official from the banking sector explained, "In digital business, cooperation with related companies and securing personnel are crucial, but if the base is in a provincial area, there are physical limitations," adding, "Especially, most digital specialists are concentrated in Seoul and the metropolitan area, so a separate foothold is necessary."
Officials from BNK Financial Group attending the opening ceremony of the BNK Digital Center at BNK Digital Tower in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, last February.
BNK Financial Group, which oversees Busan Bank and Kyongnam Bank, also recently opened the BNK Digital Center at BNK Digital Tower in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, for similar reasons.
The BNK Digital Center is a specialized organization established to strengthen BNK Financial's competitiveness in the digital sector, enhancing exchanges with digital specialists and reinforcing collaboration with fintech companies concentrated in Gangnam and Pangyo.
BNK Financial has selected artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, digital experience, and open innovation as its digital innovation technology fields and newly established research and development teams within the center for each area.
This organization promotes the development of digital innovation models, advancement and automation of tasks, construction of a cloud-based group big data analysis system, and the introduction of an open platform supporting AI projects.
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