[Exclusive] Kim Dong-ho, CEO of KCD, Announces Bid for 4th Internet Bank: "We Will Become a Financial Company Specialized in Livelihood Support"

"A Financial Company Needed to Support Livelihoods,
Not a Political Agenda"
Focus Also on Consulting Services for Small Business Owners

Kim Dong-ho, CEO of Korea Credit Data (KCD) leading the Korea SoHo Bank consortium for the 4th internet bank, said, "A specialized financial company is needed to support people's livelihoods."

On the morning of the 2nd, Kim responded to this newspaper's question about how he expects the results regarding the preliminary approval application for the 4th internet bank. He said, "We have prepared our best, and now it seems to be the authorities' time," expressing a cautious stance.

He added, "(The preliminary approval application for the 4th internet bank) is, as I always say, not at all a political agenda, but the intention is that a specialized financial company that can better support people's livelihoods is needed. I think the authorities will empathize well with this part."

On the same morning, Kim attended a 'Business Agreement for Expanding the Consulting Ecosystem for Small Business Owners' held at the Seoul Banking Hall and presented measures to support consulting for small business owners. When asked by this newspaper about the measures for small business consulting, he said, "We launched a service using artificial intelligence (AI) through Cash Note earlier this year, and we are expanding the supply in collaboration with the Credit Guarantee Foundation, Small Enterprise and Market Service, and others," adding, "We will fulfill the role of supplying small business support software to individual business owners."

Meanwhile, the Korea SoHo Bank consortium submitted preliminary approval documents for establishing the 4th internet bank to the Financial Services Commission on the 26th of last month. In the consortium, KCD holds 33.5% of the consortium shares and is the largest shareholder. Hana Bank, Woori Bank, NongHyup Bank, Busan Bank, Heungkuk Life Insurance, Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance, Eugene Investment & Securities, Woori Card, OK Savings Bank, LGCNS, ITCEN, and Megazone Cloud also participate as shareholders.