OK Savings Bank Joins Korean Soho Bank Consortium

OK Savings Bank is joining the Korea SOHO Bank consortium preparing the 4th internet-only bank.

Korea Credit Data (KCD), leading the Korea SOHO Bank consortium, announced on the 19th that OK Savings Bank has submitted a letter of intent to invest in the Korea SOHO Bank consortium.

With OK Savings Bank's participation, the Korea SOHO Bank consortium is establishing an alliance with savings banks, enabling it to offer a lineup of linked products spanning the 1st and 2nd financial sectors and differentiated financial services. The consortium expects to contribute to resolving financial blind spots by encompassing middle- and low-credit borrowers overall.

Following OK Savings Bank's decision to join, the number of financial institutions participating in the Korea SOHO Bank consortium has increased to five. After Woori Bank and Woori Card last year, Eugene Investment & Securities expressed its intention to participate in February this year, and NH Nonghyup Bank announced its participation earlier on the 10th of this month. On the non-financial side, Megazone Cloud and ITCEN have officially joined.

KCD, leading the consortium, provides the management service ‘Cash Note’ to 1.7 million small business owners nationwide. In particular, Korea Credit Information, established by KCD, already provides credit evaluation models to numerous financial institutions based on the business information of individual entrepreneurs.

A KCD official said, “With OK Savings Bank joining, preparations for the preliminary licensing application of Korea SOHO Bank are being smoothly completed,” adding, “Together with all consortium participants, we will successfully launch ‘Korea’s first small business bank’ that provides financial services tailored to small business owners and small enterprises based on data.”

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