Postal Offices to Handle Services of Four Major Banks

Four Major Commercial Banks Including Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, and Hana Sign Business Agreement with Korea Post
Aiming to Provide Deposit and Withdrawal Services Within the Year
Financial Authorities Promote Introduction of Bank Agency Services

On the afternoon of the 16th, Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, presided over a business agreement ceremony to expand entrusted postal services at the Korea Federation of Banks building in Jung-gu, Seoul, and announced the "Measures to Enhance Offline Financial Accessibility in the Banking Sector."

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] In the future, services of the four major commercial banks?Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, and Hana?will be available at post office counters and ATMs nationwide. Additionally, financial authorities are promoting the introduction of a bank agency system that allows non-bank financial companies and retailers to conduct deposit and loan services.

On the 16th, Kim Soyoung, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, presided over a business agreement ceremony to expand post office consignment services and announced the "Measures to Enhance Offline Financial Accessibility in the Banking Sector." On the same day, the Korea Post, the four major commercial banks, and the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute signed a business agreement and agreed to smoothly proceed with consignment of deposit and withdrawal services at post offices, aiming to provide the service within the year.

Vice Chairman Kim stated, "We have prepared the 'Measures to Enhance Offline Financial Accessibility in the Banking Sector' to secure various offline channels that can serve as alternatives to bank branches," adding, "We will activate services that allow customers to deposit or withdraw change while purchasing goods at retailers such as convenience stores and department stores, not just post offices." He further explained, "We will also promote the introduction of a bank agency system that allows qualified institutions to perform some banking tasks. This will create an environment where simple banking services can be conveniently handled at nearby post offices, convenience stores, or bank agency institutions without necessarily visiting a bank branch."

Through the signing of this business agreement, the four major commercial banks will newly participate in post office consignment services, which had previously been limited to Citibank, Industrial Bank of Korea, IBK, and Jeonbuk Bank. Customers of the four major banks will be able to use deposit, withdrawal, inquiry services, and ATMs at 2,482 financial post office branches nationwide.

The Korea Post and the banking sector have agreed through several meetings to expand the service provision area nationwide, resolving previous disagreements, and will conduct a research project to establish fair fee calculations. Additionally, approximately 8,380 integrated card readers compatible with both post office and commercial bank passbooks will be sequentially distributed and replaced at post office financial counters nationwide. To ensure prompt and stable execution of consigned tasks, a system capable of using the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute’s network relay service will be established within this year and further advanced by the first half of next year.

The Financial Services Commission will promote amendments to consignment regulations and related terms to activate small cash withdrawals (cashback) and change deposits accompanied by purchases at cash card-affiliated stores such as convenience stores and department stores. A Financial Services Commission official explained, "Considering the potential misuse of cashback services such as tax evasion, the current limit will be maintained while expanding affiliated stores and promoting the service. For change deposit services, considering the increasing use of 50,000 KRW bills, the single transaction limit will be raised from 10,000 KRW to 50,000 KRW."

The introduction of the bank agency system will also be pursued. Once introduced, non-bank entities such as non-bank financial companies and retailers will be able to perform simple and standardized deposit, loan, and foreign exchange services. For example, non-bank deposit-taking institutions like post offices will be able to act as agents for standardized savings and deposit account openings and deposit/withdrawal passbook services. Travel and airline companies will be able to handle agency and brokerage services such as small foreign exchange purchase applications, payment collection, and delivery. This requires amendments to the Banking Act, and the Financial Services Commission plans to prepare a revision bill after collecting opinions from the industry and regulatory bodies regarding the scope of work, licensing requirements, soundness assurance, and consumer protection obligations. A Financial Services Commission official explained, "Since these agencies will perform essential banking tasks as agents or brokers, the system will operate under a licensing regime similar to banks, and the scope of work and service types will be limited through individual reviews based on the agency’s expertise."

Furthermore, to revitalize joint branches, incentives will be provided to make cost reductions more effective through shared use of premises and IT facilities.

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