The end of bank queues? China, Korea, India welcome the digital-only revolution
Many of the region’s social media giants are about to launch services that enable customers to smartphone-away their banking nightmares
Kong Kyong-sun has been doing most of her banking via an “easier to use” smartphone since 2011, but the 36-year-old in Seoul can’t avoid the hassles of her bank branch completely. She still must go there, usually during busy working hours, to queue for simple tasks such as renewing her security device or opening a new account. Sometimes after more than an hour she is forced to leave empty-handed – she simply can’t continue to wait.
“I just keep pushing back my bank visit schedule because it is so inconvenient,” she said.
Kong had come to accept that sometimes a trip to the bank simply couldn’t be avoided – until recently.
On Monday, South Korea will launch its first digital-only bank. Known as K Bank, it will allow customers to do everything from open a bank account to apply for a loan with just a few clicks on their smartphone. Need to withdraw cash? You can do so by using a debit card at 10,500 ATMs across the country.
The bank, led by the country’s telecom giant KT Corp and 20 other companies, also offers cheaper loans to borrowers who have a good record of debt repayments but are regarded by other lenders as low-credit rating holders. It uses KT Corp’s big data system to more deeply analyse their credit ratings.
The launch of K Bank is the latest sign of Asia’s growing interest in digital-only banks. While conventional banks have added internet banking to their lists of services, analysts say going fully digital helps banks stay competitive in an increasingly tough market.