Banks, Record-Breaking Bonus Party... 'Base Salary 300%' or More

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Last year, as commercial banks achieved record-high management performance, the scale of performance bonuses is also expected to increase significantly compared to previous years.

According to the financial sector on the 11th, Woori Bank's labor and management agreed on the payment of 'performance bonuses amounting to 200% of the base salary' through wage and collective bargaining (wage and collective agreement) on the 7th. Additionally, a 100% base salary and 1 million KRW were added to boost employee morale. Employees will effectively receive performance bonuses exceeding 300% of their base salary for last year's results.

Previously, KB Kookmin Bank's performance bonus (P/S) was 300% of the monthly ordinary wage (concept of base salary), which increased from the previous year (200% of ordinary wage + 1.5 million KRW).

Shinhan Bank employees will also receive about 300% of their base salary as last year's performance bonus. They already received 250% in cash on December 31 last year, and the remaining 50% will be paid in the form of employee stock ownership around March to April.

On the 3rd, Shinhan Bank also distributed 1 million MyShinhan Points to employees as a special payment. Compared to the performance bonus of 150% of the base salary (30% in employee stock ownership) and a special consolation payment of 1.5 million KRW a year ago, this nearly doubled.

Hana Bank also decided on a special performance bonus (P/S) of about 300% of the base salary. On the 10th, employees received 250% initially, and the remaining 50% is scheduled to be paid around April. Additionally, 800,000 KRW in welfare points will be added next month.

In comparison, the performance bonus level based on 2020 management results was 200% of the base salary, and there were almost no special payments outside of the performance bonus.

However, there remains controversy over whether the significant increase in interest income due to the surge in household loans caused by COVID-19 and other factors can be evaluated as 'management performance.'

Up to the third quarter of last year, the cumulative net profits of the five major financial holding companies?KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup?were all recorded at record-high levels. Household loans increased significantly due to overlapping factors such as investment demand through loans and demand for living expenses caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, and interest income rose sharply as interest rates increased.

Interest income up to the third quarter of last year for each group was KB 8.2554 trillion KRW, Shinhan 6.6621 trillion KRW, Hana 4.9941 trillion KRW, Woori 5.089 trillion KRW, and NH Nonghyup 6.3134 trillion KRW, which were 15.6%, 10.2%, 15.3%, 14.9%, and 5.9% higher than the same period a year earlier, respectively.

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