Hana Bank opens branch specialized for foreigners in Pyeongtaek

Hana Bank opened a branch specialized for foreign customers in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Thursday.

Hana Bank CEO Lee Seung-lyul, second from left, seats behind a bank teller window on which a real-time translation is displayed at the bank's Pyeongtaek Foreign Customer Center in Gyeonggi on Thursday. [HANA BANK]

Hana Bank opened a branch specialized for foreign customers in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on Thursday.

The branch, named the Pyeongtaek Foreign Customer Center, is aimed at enhancing the accessibility of financial services for foreign residents in Korea, especially in the southern Gyeonggi region where there is a large population of foreign workers.

Hana Bank offers an AI-driven real-time translation and a digital device designed to provide information on banking as well as other services tailored to foreign customers’ needs, with foreign tellers dispatched for customer service at the branch.

The real-time translation is available in 38 languages including English, Thai and Malay. When a customer and a banker speak in the language that they are most comfortable with, the translation will appear in real time on a transparent display panel.

Moreover, as the regular operating hours during business days would not be convenient for many foreign workers, the Pyeongtaek Foreign Customer Center opens from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Sunday.

A community space for foreigners has also been set up at the branch for foreign residents to take part in Korean language courses and other networking activities.

“We expect the Pyeongtaek Foreign Customer Center to not only provide personalized financial services for foreign customers within the local community but also become a place where they can gain information and communicate with each other,” said Hana Bank CEO Lee Seung-lyul.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]