KB Kookmin Card Opens First Overseas Branch in Cambodia... "Expanding Global Territory"

Location of Sen Sok, a New Town with a Dense Middle-Class Population in Phnom Penh
Boosting Southeast Asia Business Line Expansion and Overseas Asset Ratio Increase Strategy

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] KB Kookmin Card has laid the foundation to become Cambodia's number one specialized bank by opening its first overseas branch in Cambodia.

On the afternoon of the 10th, KB Kookmin Card held an opening ceremony for its first overseas branch, the 'KB Daehan Specialized Bank Sen Sok Branch,' in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The ceremony was attended by KB Kookmin Card President Lee Dong-cheol, LVMC Holdings Chairman Oh Se-young, Cambodia Central Bank Banking Supervision Director Lat Sobannorak, and other key partners related to the local Cambodian corporation as well as Cambodian financial authorities.

The Sen Sok area, where the branch is located, is a new town densely populated by the middle class, situated northwest of the capital Phnom Penh. This area features many new boreys (villas), resulting in high demand for housing purchase loans not only for actual residence but also for investment purposes. Due to the area's demographic characteristics with many middle-class residents, there is also abundant demand for automobile installment financing. Numerous new and used car dealers operate around a nearby large shopping mall, providing an optimal sales infrastructure for expanding automobile installment financing.

Regarding the establishment of the branch, President Lee personally led the selection of location conditions and the formulation of sales strategies optimized for the surrounding business environment from the review stage. At the same time, he ordered measures to strengthen internal controls to minimize operational risks. In the future, when 'PT Finansia Multifinance,' a mid-sized Indonesian credit finance company acquired at the end of last year, is incorporated as a subsidiary, the overseas asset ratio expansion and global territory expansion movement through the Southeast Asia business line expansion, which President Lee announced in his New Year's address, are expected to gain further momentum.

The newly established branch will conduct all business activities possible for a local specialized bank, including real estate secured loans and new and used car installment financing previously handled by the Cambodian local corporation's head office, as well as card services to be launched soon.

Additionally, the branch is designed as a comprehensive store integrating sales and screening functions, enabling a one-day, one-stop process where customers and local dealers can quickly and conveniently handle loan-related tasks.

The branch staff consists entirely of about 20 local Cambodian employees, including the branch manager, to optimize sales activities according to local characteristics. To minimize branch operation risks and strengthen internal controls, employees dispatched from the local corporation's head office regularly conduct 'daily branch audits' and 'special audit activities,' and loans exceeding a certain amount are reviewed at the head office, applying strict internal control processes.

Following the opening of the Sen Sok branch, KB Kookmin Card plans to continue expanding its sales network, including branches, in major Cambodian hub cities such as Phnom Penh, considering the growth and overall conditions of the local corporation.

A KB Kookmin Card official stated, "Since the official launch of the Cambodian local corporation in September 2018, it achieved early profitability within about 10 months and has continued steady asset growth, marking an unprecedented achievement in the history of domestic card companies' overseas expansion. With the expansion of the local sales network in Cambodia, we plan to promote continuous growth in existing real estate secured loans and automobile installment financing and accelerate the early stabilization of new businesses such as the card business scheduled to start soon."

Meanwhile, through the opening of this first overseas branch, KB Kookmin Card now holds a total of four overseas sales infrastructures across three countries?Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar?including two local corporations, one branch, and one representative office. The Indonesian credit finance company acquired last year is also expected to officially launch as an overseas subsidiary soon after completing financial authority approval procedures and acquisition integration work.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.