Shinhan Bank Acquires 1.97% Treasury Shares of Douzone Bizon... Combining Both Companies' Platforms

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Shinhan Bank announced on the 17th that it has signed a strategic equity investment agreement to acquire 1.97% of its own shares (totaling 72.3 billion KRW) in Duzon Bizon, the dominant player in the domestic enterprise resource planning (ERP) market.

In June, Shinhan Bank and Duzon Bizon signed a strategic business agreement and have been jointly promoting the establishment of an innovative financial and business platform. Based on Duzon Bizon's real-time corporate accounting and commerce data, they judged that it is possible to pioneer innovative business models including new financial services, leading to this equity investment decision.

Through this equity partnership, the two companies plan to provide new corporate financial services at the Banking as a Service (BaaS) level, rather than simple service linkage, to the corporate finance market, which has been relatively underserved compared to the retail financial market that has benefited from internet-only banks.

With the newly launched financial and business platform, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be able to conduct financial tasks and non-financial management activities such as production, finance, and accounting simultaneously, 100% non-face-to-face without visiting the bank directly.

In addition, in line with government policies to improve the promissory note system and expand commerce-based funding support, it is expected that low- and medium-interest funding support for SMEs will be significantly expanded through accounts receivable factoring services that link financial and non-financial data of both companies.

A Shinhan Bank official said, "We will create a digital ecosystem for SMEs with an innovative financial and business platform and become a corporate-specialized challenger bank with strong digital financial services," adding, "In line with Shinhan Financial Group's vision of 'Easier, More Comfortable, and Newer Finance,' we will provide financial services that can offer practical help to corporate customers."