Woori Bank Joins Consortium for Internet Bank with Korea Credit Data

Letter of Intent Delivered for Investment in KCD Internet Bank Consortium

Woori Bank has expressed its intention to participate in the internet-only bank consortium led by Korea Credit Data (KCD).

On the 14th, Korea Credit Data announced that Woori Bank had submitted a letter of intent to invest in the KCD consortium. KCD, which leads the consortium, emphasizes that it is a business operator providing stable financial services to small business owners. KCD has been offering the management service "Cash Note" to 1.4 million small business owners nationwide.

The greatest strength of the KCD consortium is that it independently provides credit evaluation services for small business owners who are sole proprietors. Existing small business loans have been conducted as loans to high-credit sole proprietors through first-tier financial institutions, but Korea Credit Information, established by KCD, already provides credit evaluation models to numerous financial institutions based on the business information of sole proprietors. Korea Credit Information, the only specialized sole proprietor credit evaluation company in Korea, attracted new investments from IBK Industrial Bank and DGB Daegu Bank in March, receiving market recognition for the excellence of its small business owner evaluation models.

KCD was selected as a recipient of Woori Bank's startup nurturing program, WeBee Fintech Lab (the predecessor of Woori Financial Dino Lab), shortly after its founding in 2016, receiving support from Woori Bank. In 2020, KCD signed a business agreement with Woori Bank to support small business financing through non-face-to-face financial services and launched a non-face-to-face loan product. Having started with support from Woori Bank, KCD has grown into a unicorn company and is now partnering to create a bank for small business owners.

Kim Dong-ho, CEO of KCD, said, “Korea Credit Data aims to create the first bank for small business owners through the internet-only bank license together with Woori Bank,” adding, “The KCD consortium will develop innovative financial services that enable small business owners and sole proprietors to receive fair evaluations and timely funding based on multidimensional data.”