Chairman Lim Young-rok of KB Financial Group

The KB Financial Group must seek new sources of profit including offering a financial product linking real estate and financing, securing domination of the Smart financial market, strengthening retirement financial services, and special booths for working couples, all in the new channel financial market that needs to be developed.

 In the development of real estate related financial products, a number of financial affiliates of the group will play a role such as KB Bank, KB Asset Management, and KB Real Estate Trust, among others. 

 In order to provide for deeper penetration of the Smart financial market, KB Bank opened its first smart branch to handle customers using smartphones to take care of their banking activities. Customers can use the smartphones at the branch to deposit or withdraw their funds and get financial consultations including financial information.

 The group is in the process of setting up a KB Retirement Research Center to study how best it can serve retired citizens by finding out the changes in various areas of society including business, demographics, and employment, as the number of retired people and senior citizens ready for retirement rapidly rises.

 The group has also been studying various matters related to opening special branches to deal exclusively with those in their 30s and 40s with special working hours suitable for them along with tailor-made financial products.

 The group has been focused on strengthening the corporate financing sector through KB Kookmin Bank, including the opening of the large corporate financing group, divided into the new idea and industrial teams, as it sees the need for a big overhaul of the domestic banks’ large business financial model beyond just financing to include an integrated corporate financial service role in order to take over from such foreign banks as Citi and HSBC. 

 The group has also set up the KB Hidden Star 500 Program to select SMEs with great growth potential to give them financial support. So far 181 have been selected, with the remaining 319 to be selected by 2013.

 KB Financial has set up its mid to long-term growth strategy under the theme of “Stable Growth through Tight Management with Maximum Profit” with the management strategy for this year being “Maximum management effect through boosted productivity.”

KB Financial Group is Korea’s leading financial institution with the largest customer base and the most extensive branch network in the country. With total assets exceeding US$342 billion, the Group wields a solid capital prowess and enjoys a strong brand loyalty. As of December 2012, the Group has ten domestic subsidiaries--banking, credit cards, securities, life insurance, asset management, real estate trust, venture capital, credit information, data system, and savings bank--and four overseas subsidiaries in Hong Kong, England, Cambodia, and China.

KB Financial Group was established in September 2008 with extensive stock transfers from major subsidiary companies. The Group’s establishment was to better deal with such fundamental changes in the financial markets at home and abroad as the rapid globalization of financial service, a declining profitability of traditional banking operations, new industry regulations, and an increasing demand for comprehensive financial services.

The Group’s long-term strategy is to solidify its group infrastructure into a growth base, strengthen comprehensive financial service competencies, and cultivate future growth engines.

By expanding its non-banking operations and thus diversifying its financial products and services, KB Financial Group continues to improve customer satisfaction, maximize synergy creation, and increase the corporate value.