Busan City Takes a Step Closer to Becoming a Leading Fintech City with Webcash Group IT Center

Indoor interior view of the 'Webcash Group Busan IT Center'.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Busan City and Webcash have taken the first step toward creating a B2B (business-to-business) fintech industry ecosystem by opening the ‘Webcash Group Busan IT Center’ in Dong-gu.

The ‘Webcash Group Busan IT Center’ holds great significance as the result of the memorandum of understanding signed between Busan City and Webcash in 2019, despite the deteriorating external investment conditions such as the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Webcash plans to proactively secure excellent information and communication personnel from Busan and Gyeongnam through the Busan IT Center and to disperse the functions and personnel of its metropolitan area research and development (R&D) center to prepare for disaster situations like COVID-19.

The IT Center, located on the 10th and 11th floors of Meritz Tower in Dong-gu, Busan, will be used as Webcash’s base in the southeastern region.

The center plans to hire more than 30 local talents annually, increasing its workforce from about 15 to approximately 120 employees.

Based on programs such as the ‘Recruitment-linked Youth IT Expert Academy’ that has been underway since early this year, it is expected to play a significant role in nurturing information and communication talent and creating an ecosystem in the Busan area.

Since its founding in 1999, Webcash has built the nation’s first corporate internet banking system and is the first B2B fintech company to be listed on the KOSDAQ market, demonstrating its competitiveness.

It is the only domestic B2B financial fintech company that provides real-time connections and services to all domestic financial institutions and more than 407 financial institutions in 33 countries worldwide.

After the opening of the Busan IT Center, Webcash plans to provide free fund management services to social enterprises in the region and offer free consulting for business innovation.

The opening ceremony of the Webcash Group Busan IT Center will be held at 4 p.m. on the 23rd, with about 30 attendees including Seok Chang-gyu, chairman of Webcash Group, and CEOs of affiliated companies.

Kang Won-joo, CEO of Webcash, said, “Webcash Group started as a startup in Busan about 20 years ago, so today’s opening of the Webcash Group Busan IT Center has a special meaning,” and added, “I hope the Webcash Group Busan IT Center will become a place where local young talents can express their creativity and passion.”

Park Hyung-joon, mayor of Busan, said, “The non-face-to-face financial transaction market, which had been growing gradually, has now become the core of finance, and fintech technology is at its center,” and added, “I hope that the technology and know-how accumulated over a long time by Webcash will be well integrated into the IT Center so that Busan can take one more step forward as Asia’s leading fintech financial innovation hub.”