Countdown to Selection of 25 Seoul District Treasury Banks Following Seoul City Treasury Bank

Following Seoul City's selection of Shinhan Bank as the city treasury operator in April, 25 Seoul autonomous districts have entered the district treasury competition... Currently, Shinhan Bank operates 5, Woori Bank 18, and KB 2 district treasuries, making the battle intense.

Inside Shinhan Bank Seongdong-gu Office Branch

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] The fierce competition among domestic commercial banks for the Seoul Metropolitan Government treasury and the 25 district treasuries has begun.

Seoul Metropolitan Government started the selection process for the city treasury in April, and Shinhan Bank, which was first selected as the operator of Seoul’s primary treasury four years ago, has once again been chosen as the Seoul city treasury (operator of the 1st and 2nd funds).

◆Shinhan Bank Reappointed as Seoul City Treasury, Intensifying Competition for 25 District Treasuries

In particular, Shinhan Bank achieved the remarkable feat of being reappointed as the Incheon city treasury this year following its reappointment as the Seoul city treasury.

Riding this momentum, Shinhan Bank has also entered the selection process for the treasuries of Seoul’s 25 districts.

Currently, Woori Bank has been operating the treasuries of 24 districts, excluding the Yongsan District Office branch, which Shinhan Bank has operated for the past four years.

However, following Shinhan Bank’s acquisition of the Seoul city treasury four years ago, it now operates the treasuries of five districts including Yongsan-gu, Seongdong-gu, Seocho-gu, Gangnam-gu, and Gangbuk-gu, while Woori Bank operates 18 districts and KB Bank operates 2 districts.

Accordingly, in this treasury competition, Shinhan Bank is striving to attract more district treasuries, while Woori Bank is focusing on defense, drawing attention.

Shinhan Bank argues that operating the Seoul city treasury gives it an advantageous position in terms of consistent operation of the IT network between the city and district treasuries.

The 25 districts of Seoul are expected to issue official notices for the selection of district treasuries within this month, accept applications by mid-September, and complete the selection by early October.

◆Seocho-gu Announces District Treasury Reappointment on the 25th

Seocho-gu (District Mayor Jeon Seong-su) announced on the 25th of this month via official bulletin and website the plan to designate the next district treasury through a public competitive process, as the current district treasury bank (Shinhan Bank) contract period expires this year.

The contract period for the next treasury is four years, from 2023 to 2026. The primary treasury will manage general and special accounts, while the secondary treasury will manage funds. The primary and secondary treasuries will be evaluated separately, and the bank with the highest score in each category will be selected as the preferred candidate for the next district treasury. The treasury bank will handle Seocho-gu’s fund management, collection and transfer of revenues, payment of expenditures, and collection and payment of cash outside revenues and expenditures.

The schedule includes a briefing session for interested financial institutions on September 1, proposal submissions from September 21 to 23, evaluation by the treasury designation review committee in October, and signing of the treasury service contract in November.

In accordance with the Seoul Special City Seocho-gu Treasury Designation and Operation Regulations, the district plans to conduct a fair and transparent evaluation through the ‘Seocho-gu Treasury Designation Review Committee,’ composed of private experts in finance and IT, as well as district council members.

The committee will evaluate six categories and 19 detailed items: internal and external creditworthiness and financial stability of the financial institution (25 points), loans and deposit interest rates for the district (20 points), convenience for district residents (18 points), treasury management capability (28 points), contribution to the local community and cooperation projects with the district (7 points), and other factors (2 points).

New evaluation criteria for this district treasury designation include ‘green finance performance’ to strengthen financial institutions’ social responsibility amid the global climate crisis, and ‘convenience for district residents’ reflecting the trend of non-face-to-face digital finance, such as the number of ATM installations, thereby enhancing the evaluation.

Hwang Chae-yeon, Director of the Finance Department, said, “We hope many excellent financial institutions capable of managing Seocho-gu’s funds stably will participate, and we will do our utmost to ensure that the district treasury is designated through a fair and transparent process.”

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