KakaoBank is launching a package of financial services for foreign residents in South Korea, covering everything from opening an account to issuing cards and sending money abroad.
The internet-only lender said on the 12th at a "Foreign Customer Services Press Talk" that it would roll out accounts for foreign residents, Friends debit cards and an overseas remittance service.
The services are available to anyone aged 19 or older who holds a foreign resident identification card and a mobile phone registered in their own name. Accounts can be opened in about five minutes when no additional review is required. The bank said it had also streamlined the entry of names, nationalities and addresses by drawing on public MyData records and a selfie-based identity check designed for foreign customers.
Foreign customers can obtain a Friends debit card with the same cashback benefits offered to domestic users. A version of the Friends debit card that works for overseas payments will be introduced late this year. Customers will also have access to the KakaoBank Chakbut Shinhan Card, a co-branded credit card, affiliated credit cards for sole proprietors and a service comparing credit card benefits. Group accounts and Safe Box savings will be offered to foreign customers as well.
The remittance service, offered in partnership with Hanpass, supports about 200 countries and more than 50 currencies. The app provides artificial intelligence translation in English, Chinese and Vietnamese. KakaoBank said it was not considering any specific plan to link stablecoins to the new remittance service, though it sees demand in the area and intends to monitor legislative developments and potential applications.
Next year the bank will extend deposit and installment savings products, open banking and loan comparison services to foreign customers. About 2.2 million foreign nationals were living in South Korea as of the end of last year, according to the Ministry of Justice. "Our goal is to give foreign customers the same convenient banking and benefits that domestic customers have enjoyed," said Bae Jung-ho, head of KakaoBank's foreign customer camp.