[SAFF 2020] "Competition Diversifies with Open Banking... Many New Fintechs Will Emerge"

Banks, Internet Banks, and Fintech Companies in 'Infinite Competition'
The Core of Open Banking is 'Open Competition and Innovation'

The '2020 Seoul Asia Financial Forum (SAFF 2020)' hosted by Asia Economy was held on the 20th at the Western Chosun Hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. Kwon Young-tak, CEO of Fink, is giving a lecture on the full-scale launch of open banking. This event, held under the theme 'Post-Corona, Financial Market Stabilization Measures,' aimed to deeply explore innovative strategies to overcome uncertainties in the era of the big blur of finance and capital markets. This year, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of speakers and participants, the event was conducted via online live streaming. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] “In the future, numerous new fintech (finance + technology) services and platforms based on ICT will emerge.”

Kwon Young-tak, CEO of Fink, stated this on the 20th at the ‘2020 Seoul Asia Financial Forum’ held at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Sogong-dong, Seoul. He said, “Just as the opening of wireless internet networks created giant platforms, open banking will give rise to various financial platforms.” Open banking refers to a service that allows management of all bank accounts through a single bank application (app).

In his lecture titled ‘Open Banking and a New Leap in the Financial Industry,’ CEO Kwon explained the era of open banking with the keywords openness, competition, and innovation. The expansion of the joint open API system has opened the way for third parties to utilize payment functions and customer data held by banks. Additionally, the entry barriers for fintech companies in the financial market have been removed.

This openness inevitably triggers competition, which CEO Kwon referred to as ‘diversification of competition.’ He diagnosed, “Not only traditional competition among banks but also internet-only banks and fintech operators now compete on the same level.”

He also noted, “Fintech companies are pursuing innovation in existing processes to improve efficiency, innovation in customer experience for service convenience, and innovation in understanding existing customers based on data,” adding, “The game changer will be determined by the capability to utilize ICT.” He mentioned that if the MyData era opens up, ‘coopetition’ (competition + cooperation) among companies will also be important. MyData is a service that aggregates and utilizes personal information scattered across various institutions and companies in one place.

Fink is a fintech affiliate of Hana Financial Group, launched in 2016 as a joint venture with SK Telecom. Leveraging Hana Financial’s expertise in financial product planning and SK Telecom’s data from 26 million subscribers, it provides various fintech services such as loan comparison services.

CEO Kwon, who joined Fink as Chief Operating Officer (COO), was appointed CEO in July last year and reappointed in March this year.

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