While Banks Hesitate, Fintech Companies Embark on 'Talent Shopping' (Comprehensive)

Fintech Industry Fights for Talent Acquisition
Incentives Include 1.5x Salary and 100 Million KRW Stock Options
Among Four Major Banks, Only Shinhan Bank Hiring in Second Half

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] As digital banking becomes commonplace, the landscape of the 'financial sector recruitment market' is rapidly changing. While commercial banks that used to conduct large-scale open recruitment every year hesitate to hire talent, fintech (finance + technology) companies are going all out in the recruitment war by offering 'exceptional incentives.' As the digital and IT sectors emerge as the core of the financial industry, there is an analysis that the fintech industry has become a 'talent black hole.'

According to the financial sector on the 15th, internet-only banks such as Kakao Bank and K Bank, as well as fintech companies like Toss and BankSalad, have recently been actively recruiting talent. This is largely due to aggressive business expansion driven by the growing demand for non-face-to-face financial services.

The most active player is undoubtedly Toss. In just eight years since its establishment, Toss has surpassed 1,100 employees. This is the result of hiring more than 300 people since the first half of this year in preparation for the launch of Toss Bank. Most hires are experienced professionals, offered salaries up to 1.5 times higher than their previous jobs, along with stock options worth 100 million KRW.

The workforce of Toss Bank, which officially launches on the 5th of next month, is currently estimated at around 150 people. This marks a significant increase compared to about 100 employees at the time of the official approval application in June.

Kakao Bank conducted open recruitment for developers and hired experienced personnel related to loans in July and August, respectively. Especially ahead of the launch of non-face-to-face mortgage loans within the year, they plan to hire double-digit numbers in the fields of ▲mortgage loan operations and ▲mortgage loan operation support. Kakao Bank plans to offer benefits such as one month of paid leave and flexible working hours to those who complete three years of service.

BankSalad has also actively sought to secure talent in preparation for the full-scale implementation of the MyData business starting next year. They offered a remarkable condition of a 1.5 times salary increase exclusively for new hires in development and product manager (PM) positions. In particular, the minimum salary for developers was set at 60 million KRW, and lead-level employees are granted stock options worth at least 100 million KRW.

K Bank is currently recruiting IT experienced professionals in double-digit numbers. To facilitate applicants, they have omitted the 'self-introduction letter' submission process.

A fintech industry insider said, "Securing excellent digital talent is equivalent to a company's competitiveness," and predicted, "The competition for outstanding talent will remain fierce."

On the other hand, major commercial banks except Shinhan Bank and IBK Industrial Bank of Korea have yet to decide on open recruitment for the second half of this year. Woori Bank, KB Kookmin Bank, and Hana Bank all have undecided scales and schedules.

Particularly, despite Financial Services Commission Chairman Ko Seung-beom recently urging the heads of the five major financial holding companies to 'expand recruitment,' banks have been reluctant to take action, drawing attention to the reasons behind this. Before the 'Financial Sector Recruitment Fair' recently held as a key initiative by the Financial Services Commission, only Shinhan Bank had finalized its recruitment plans for the second half.

According to the financial sector, the physical difficulties of conducting large-scale open recruitment due to the impact of COVID-19, along with the reduction of branches caused by the acceleration of non-face-to-face finance, have had a significant impact. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, as of the end of June, the number of bank branches nationwide was 6,326, down by 79 from 6,405 at the end of last year. This means that a bank branch has disappeared roughly every two days.

A bank official explained, "Large-scale open recruitment requires written exams and group training, which are heavily restricted under COVID-19 conditions," and added, "The rapid digitalization and sharp decrease in branch numbers are factors preventing the finalization of recruitment scales."

Accordingly, the recruitment method of commercial banks is likely to be limited to occasional hiring focused on digital and IT personnel for the time being. Most commercial banks have been conducting or planning recruitment procedures for related personnel since the first half of this year.

Shinhan Bank, which plans to hire about 250 people in the second half of this year, has decided to make 'digital skills' a key evaluation criterion in hiring general employees rather than developers. This is seen as a measure considering the lack of recruitment capacity due to branch reductions but the need to increase digital personnel.

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