Industrial Financial institution of Korea (IBK) gained “Greatest Cell Monetary App” class on the 2024 Finovate Awards. Rising victorious from a area of six spectacular finalists, Industrial Financial institution of Korea’s i-ONE Financial institution app gained over our judges for its “nice set of options” within the phrases of 1 evaluator, and its “easy and clear UX/UI,” within the phrases of one other.
“This cellular app seems to do all of it,” one more decide mentioned, “It was particularly good to see that it provides prospects a wide range of choices for log-in and personalization of the person expertise. They’ve clearly targeted on safety and made certain there are a lot of totally different capabilities obtainable, even foreign money alternate.”
We caught up with Kim Sung-tae, CEO of Industrial Financial institution of Korea, to study extra in regards to the establishment’s award-winning cellular banking app and what units it other than opponents within the Korean market. We additionally focus on the financial institution’s position within the Korea monetary providers ecosystem, the connection between fintechs and incumbent monetary establishments in Korea, how enabling applied sciences like AI are creating new alternatives for innovation, and what we will anticipate from IBK this yr and past.
Based in 1961, Industrial Financial institution of Korea is headquartered within the Jung-gu District of Seoul, South Korea. Kim Sung-tae was appointed Chief Govt Officer in 2023.
Industrial Financial institution of Korea (IBK) gained the “Greatest Cell Monetary App” class on the 2024 Finovate Awards. What units your app other than opponents?
Kim Sung-tae: i-ONE Financial institution displays our unwavering dedication to the client. Whereas all banking apps in Korea could seem comparable, few show consistency and dedication to offering customer-centric providers.
But, i-ONE Financial institution has all the time put the client first since its inception, believing that “all of the solutions lie with the client.” Because of this, the app has constantly ranked first within the home monetary app class on the 2 main app retailer platforms (iOS and Android) — a hit that has culminated in successful the Greatest Monetary Cell App on the 2024 Finovate Awards.
Who does IBK primarily serve?
Kim Sung-tae: IBK serves each particular person and company prospects. As of now, roughly 17 million people and a couple of.2 million firms use IBK’s monetary providers.
What do you assume is an important banking service for purchasers at the moment, and the way has IBK responded to that want?
Kim Sung-tae: Previously, retail prospects in Korea selected banks based mostly on the proximity to their office or residence. Today, nevertheless, we discovered a major shift of their choice standards: prospects prioritize cellular banking comfort in choosing their major financial institution. To answer this altering want, we adopted “Simpler, Sooner, and Extra Safe Banking” as our slogan and positioned i-ONE Financial institution because the flagship service of our cellular channel.
i-ONE Financial institution delivers a full vary of economic banking services, together with deposits, loans, investments, and pensions (Particular person Retirement Pensions) by an open finance platform. It permits prospects to view all of their monetary transaction info dispersed at a number of establishments, equivalent to banks, bank card issuers, and brokerages, on a single web page. As well as, it gives a lot acclaimed private finance administration (PFM) providers that routinely file spending historical past for straightforward management of shoppers’ private funds.
Do you assume rising applied sciences equivalent to AI play a major position? Is that this an space of innovation for the financial institution?
Kim Sung-tae: Completely. Upon taking workplace as CEO, I launched “Worth Finance” as my administration philosophy, emphasizing that IBK should transcend revenue era to reinforce the worth to all stakeholders in consideration of not simply the purchasers, but additionally all the group and even the surroundings.
AI is an progressive expertise with the potential to raise the worth of IBK’s numerous stakeholders. We’re at present working the IBK GPT Challenge which goals to leverage AI to enhance operational productiveness and promote digital transformation in buyer providers by, as an illustration, introducing conversational banking.
How would you describe the monetary providers surroundings in Korea? Is the connection between fintechs and banks extra collaborative or aggressive?
Kim Sung-tae: The monetary providers surroundings in Korea is extremely dynamic, characterised by each competitors and collaboration between conventional banks and fintech firms. IBK strives to create synergies between the 2 by specializing in the areas the place they are often complementary to one another, with a aim of fostering a sound ecosystem for higher monetary innovation. For instance, we function IBK Changgong, an incubator program to help progressive tech startups, and IBK 1st Lab to assist commercialization of the startups’ options.
What main initiatives does IBK have deliberate for 2025?
Kim Sung-tae: In 2025, IBK plans to rework i-ONE Financial institution into an open platform based mostly on banking. By leveraging the two-side market nature of platforms, we purpose to increase our end-user base for banking providers whereas additionally rising collaboration with companion firms to diversify non-financial content material choices. By i-ONE Financial institution, we are going to create a virtuous circle that delivers tangible worth to each prospects and companion firms, and maximize community results, which is able to in the end propel i-ONE Financial institution to be a brilliant app.
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