Lee Seok-yong, President of NongHyup Bank, "Establishing a Digital Control Tower... Implementing a Super App"

[Bank President New Year Interview] ⑤

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] Lee Seok-yong, President of NH Nonghyup Bank, announced on the 26th that he plans to transform the mobile banking app All One Bank into a super app linking comprehensive financial and lifestyle services.

In an interview with Asia Economy, President Lee said, "This year, Nonghyup Bank will provide financial services that customers find attractive by transcending the boundaries between banking and non-banking through digital innovation in the era of convergence and fusion."

In particular, Nonghyup Bank plans to establish a new DT division this year to serve as a digital transformation control tower and implant digital transformation across all departments. President Lee emphasized, "The banking industry is currently facing an age of great exploration with new technologies and new markets," adding, "The only way not to be forced to change is to change first."

He identified "leading new digital financial technologies" as the key business goal to be pursued this year. President Lee explained, "We will continue to expand lifestyle financial services and the application of artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation (RPA), and other banking tasks."

Regarding the intensifying competition with internet-only banks and big tech companies, President Lee cited agricultural finance and public finance as Nonghyup Bank's unique strengths. He said, "We launched 'Financial Map,' a data-based public business service, which is currently being used for local government budget planning and household support policy formulation," adding, "This has led to new revenue sources in areas exclusive to Nonghyup Bank, such as selling analyzed data to external organizations."

Concerning global business this year, the bank plans to continue expanding its global network, starting with the opening of the Noida branch in India scheduled for the first half of the year. President Lee stated, "We will stabilize the business early through proactive corporate lending," and explained, "We will support local Indian companies with loans and explore collaboration opportunities with NH Investment & Securities and others."

Regarding the banking sector's recent strategy to expand corporate loans amid a decline in household loans, President Lee predicted, "Due to the real estate market slump and high interest rates, difficulties in promoting household loans are expected this year as well," and forecasted, "Competition among banks to promote corporate loans will intensify."

Nonghyup Bank aims to expand corporate loans focused on high-quality assets. He added, "Leveraging the strengths of regional marketing, we will ensure timely funding for local companies while also expanding the metropolitan area and high-quality corporate customers."

President Lee, newly appointed this year, has selected key core tasks for Nonghyup Bank, including establishing an internal control system. He stated, "We will concentrate capabilities in strong areas such as agricultural finance, public finance, and regional finance, and secure future competitiveness by providing convergence and fusion financial services," adding, "We plan to strengthen crisis response capabilities through risk management and expand non-interest income."