Internet, regional banks to launch first joint product

[Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

An internet-only bank and a regional bank are preparing to launch a jointly developed financial product, the first of its kind in South Korea.

Toss Bank Co., an app-based lender, and Kwangju Bank Ltd., a regional bank, will apply to the country’s Financial Services Commission as early as next week for an innovative financial service designation for their joint loan product, which customers will have access to in the second half of 2024.

Analysts say that this first collaboration between an internet bank and a regional bank could serve as a catalyst for easing the Korean banking industry‘s oligopolistic structure that is centered around the country’s five major commercial banks.

According to sources from the banking industry and financial authorities on Wednesday, Toss Bank and Kwangju Bank completed the necessary steps to obtain approval for the first joint loan product as an innovative financial service. The designation allows the two banks to receive special treatment including exceptions and exemptions from financial regulations within the designated scope.

The Financial Services Commission plans to present the product to the Innovative Finance Review Committee, which will convene in June 2024, once it receives the application. The review process could require supplementary measures for the joint loan product, but it is likely that financial consumers will be able to use the product in the second half of the year.

The joint loan product will select loan recipients based on Toss Bank’s fundraising capabilities and credit evaluation model, and the loan funds will be shared between the two banks.