South Korea to launch open banking system this month
South Korea’s commercial banks and fintechs say they will launch a single open banking system before the end of 2019.
Following a pilot by ten South Korean banks in October which saw millions of banking customers experience a single open banking system, eight additional banks and fintechs have now joined the project due to launch officially on 18 December 2019.
The pilot programme, launched by Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), saw customers across ten banks access their accounts through one single mobile application. 5.51 million open banking accounts have now been registered for the country-wide system.
In a bid to make open banking easier for customers across the region and reduce the cost of transactions, the FSC says the opening of payments services in South Korea will allow for banks and fintechs to compete in the payments industry.
The ten local banks which initially participated in the pilot induced major lenders Woori Bank, NH Nonghyup, KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank and KEB Hana Bank.
Now eight other lenders, including Standard Chartered Bank Korea and Citibank Korea, as well as two digital banks Kakao Bank and K-Bank, will participate in the official launch.
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