The amount of personal credit loans grew while mortgage loans fell last month, data showed Tuesday, apparently due to the South Korean government’s tighter mortgage restrictions since last year. Outstanding credit loans stood at 110.9 trillion won, up 1.2 trillion won ($1 billion) last month from 109.7 trillion won in January. The nation saw the figure drop 225 billion won on-month in the first month this year. Meanwhile, mortgages owed by Korean households increased 956.3 billion wo

Credit card transactions nearly halved last month as the fast-spreading COVID-19 fears dampened consumer sentiment, according to latest data Sunday. The overall credit card payments from Feb. 1-23 stood at 28.2 trillion won ($23.5 billion), down 45 percent from 51.3 trillion won in January, as per eight credit card issuers, including Shinhan Card, Samsung Card, Hyundai Card and BC Card. The transactions declined 32 percent, when deducting a week’s average amount -- approximately 10 tri

Just grab and go. This is what customers visiting a convenience store at BC Card’s head office in Seoul have to do. They don’t need a wallet, credit cards or cash. They don’t even have to encounter any cashier for payment. It is run autonomously, replacing human labor with the latest technology that features state-of-the-art sensors to track customers’ movements, and the weight of products on shelves. The convenience store, jointly operated by BC Card, its affiliat

The price gap between the average jeonse -- a real estate term unique to South Korea that refers to property lease -- and average sale price of apartments in Seoul reached a record high in February in seven years, increasing the financial burden on potential home buyers, according to latest data Thursday. Jeonse refers to a two-year leasing system that requires tenants to pay a large deposit instead of monthly rent. The average jeonse price amounted to 55.6 percent of the average apartment

Property buyers in their 30s were the biggest players in the apartment market in Seoul in the last two months of last year, according to a report Wednesday. Of the entire 10,491 transactions of apartment units registered in January in the city, those aged 30-39 accounted for 30.4 percent, or 3,188 transactions, according to a report released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation and the Korea Appraisal Board. Since transactions are reported to district offices within 60

Kakao Bank, an online-only bank in South Korea, said Tuesday that stock trading services of brokerage firm NH Investment & Securities are now available on its mobile application. Since users’ personal data is already registered on the online bank’s mobile platform, Kakao Bank users can open a securities account on the mobile banking platform more easily than with other services via stock traders’ home trading systems or brick-and-mortar branches, according the banking f

“구정 다음날부터 2일 동안 두 달치 주문이 꽉 차버렸습니다.” 마스크 생산에 핵심이 되는 부직포 생산업체 이앤에치(E&H) 황규익 대표이사는 이번 신종 코로나 사태로 인해 변화된 회사의 상황을 이렇게 설명했다. 이앤에치는 포천에 위치한 부직포를 생산하는 제조회사로, 이 회사에서 생산하는 부직포 섬유원단은 마스크뿐 만 아니라, 자동차 에어필터, 건축물 흡음마감재, 산업용 필터 등에 쓰인다. 주요 고객 사로는 3M, 도레이와 같은 글로벌 소재 기업뿐 만 아니라, 국내외 전자, 차량 회사에 부품을 납품하는 회사에 섬유원단을 공급하고 있다. 이앤에치는 코로나 사태가 발생하기 전 3-4년 동안 약 320억원의 대규모 설비투자를 선제적으로 실행하고 기술 개발을 해왔다. 2019년 기준 연 매출이 약 170억 정도되는 회사에서 해당 규모의 투자는 쉽지 않은 결정이었다고 한다. 하지만 마스크 등 고기능 제품인 멜트블

POCHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- Amid coronavirus fears, local fabric maker Environment & Human’s machines have been in full operation night and day. The non-woven fabric manufacturer churns out thin sheets of meltblown non-woven fabric, an essential material for face masks. Demand for masks has been skyrocketing, driving the government to take full control over the supply and distribution of masks. The surge -- likely to continue for some time -- reflects concerns about the virus but

  For Jeon Da-jung, a 35-year-old office worker who often commutes through the neighborhood of Buam-dong, central Seoul, the concrete staircase that leads to the nearby Jahamun Tunnel didn’t mean much to her. But “Parasite,” from the acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-ho, completely changed her mind. By using the urban landscape as a metaphor for the deepening social divide between the haves and the have-nots, it opened her eyes to the reality of Korea today, she

South Korean auto financing firm Hyundai Capital said Thursday that it is in talks with German car rental giant Sixt SE to acquire a stake in the latter’s vehicle leasing unit, Sixt Leasing SE. The announcement came after recent news reports that the Seoul-headquartered company was trying to acquire Sixt Leasing SE, via its European office Hyundai Capital Bank Europe, to increase its presence in the European car leasing market and gain a competitive edge in the emerging fuel cell elect

Credit card issuer KB Card said Monday that it has rolled out a debit card featuring Pengsoo, a popular penguin character. The newly launched card comes in two designs — one with Pengsoo saying “Peng-ca,” and the other with the character trying out different fashion items. Peng-ca comes from the giant penguin’s signature line, “Peng-ha,” meaning “Pengsoo says hi.” As part of its marketing efforts, KB Card will give out stickers of the character

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said Monday that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese crypto exchange firm BitMax to roll out new crypto services and to tap into global markets together. They also agreed to jointly develop blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies and infrastructure. Founded in 2018 by CEO George Chao, Bitmax has attracted a number of Wall Street financial engineers who used to work for global financial firms, such as Barclays and Deutsche

Internet services provider NHN said Monday that its easy-to-use mobile payment service Payco was now available on US tech giant Apple’s platforms, including Apple Store, Apple Music and iCloud. Under the partnership, users can simply link their Payco accounts with their Apple ones via the Apple ID settings, the company said. Once their payment data is registered on one of their Apple devices, Payco subscribers can make online purchases across different iOS-powered gadgets, including t

For a company that operates globally, it can be challenging to build a universal corporate culture while considering the needs of local staff. It has not been an easy task as well for Hyundai Capital, a South Korean auto finance firm, which operates in 11 countries. But its efforts to build an “inclusive” corporate culture and to open communication channels that allow employees to interact closely are key to its global operations, the company said Sunday. The initiative is

The entire amount of financial losses stemming from Lime’s funds is expected to rise to more than $1 billion, sparking deep distrust in private fund operatives and concerns over a lack of protective measures for individual investors. Lawsuits for damages and compensation are likely to follow en masse, after an intermediary audit on the hedge fund firm last week by the financial watchdog specified the case as alleged fraud. On Friday, the Financial Supervisory Service said Lime and it

Lifeplus, a joint brand of South Korean conglomerate Hanhwa Group’s financial businesses, bagged two awards at the world’s prestigious International Forum Design Award 2020, according to Hanhwa Life, an insurance firm and a key subsidiary, on Wednesday. The brand, launched in 2017 for the conglomerate’s financial units -- including life insurance, general insurance, stock brokerage and asset management -- won the awards in the two categories of communication design a

South Korea’s state pension fund National Pension Service said on Tuesday that it posted the highest return on investment in 10 years in 2019 largely due to the bullish stock markets here and abroad. The state-run pension fund marked an estimated rate of return of 11 percent last year, raking up a whopping 70 trillion won ($59 billion), according the NPS. The yield is the largest since 2010 when the fund operator marked 10.37 percent. In 2018, the NPS posted a negative yield of 0.

Hedge fund operator Lime Asset Management will likely announce the amount of losses made by some of its troubled funds next week, according to the Financial Services Commission on Friday. The audit process on Lime’s now frozen funds, being conducted by audit firm Samil PricewaterhouseCoopers, has reportedly completed and the result is scheduled to be sent to the fund operator today. “The audit seems to have taken more time than expected because necessary documents and data have

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said on Friday that the ministry will implement measures to control the supply and distribution of masks and hand sanitizers next week, warning that the government would impose harsh penalties on those hoarding the products. “The government will take stricter measures to prevent illegal activities that could risk the public health and stoke concerns among the people,” said the finance minister, who chaired a meeting with officials at the ministry on t

Traditional insurance companies in South Korea are speeding up digital transformation of their operations and services to compete with emerging tech-savvy companies that are proliferating in the financial sector. However, their digital strategy also involves industrial crossover partnerships with the emerging competitors, if necessary. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, the nation’s largest non-life insurance firm, and Kakao Pay, a fintech spin-off of mobile messenger giant Kakao,