KB Kookmin Bank said June 28 that it has launched Liiv, a mobile financial platform that is designed to be useful for consumers’ daily lives.
According to the bank, the application is comprised of a calendar, personal ledger, travel card and banking service and allows users to manage their money without cash transactions.
"Liiv stands for life-styling, integrated, interesting and valuable, which means that the application can be used in every aspect of a customer's financial life," the bank said in a statement.
The application provides users with the calendar service so they can easily link their transactions with their daily schedule. Users can create a club and share the club's meeting schedule, store important dates like birthdays and a dues ledger with other members.
Also, users can purchase mobile gift certificates and use the application as a travel card. Through its "go Dutch" function, users can easily split bills and transfer money.
Liiv provides banking service without additional certificate verification programs. Through its remittance function, users can transfer funds with only their account PIN and the receiver's account number. The application also allows a user to withdraw money at KB branches or cash machines without a card or bankbook.
The application also has a function for foreign exchange, allowing users to change currencies when the rate is favorable for them and keep the money within the application.
To celebrate the launch of Liiv, the bank will hold a concert starring Psy, Ailee and I.O.I at the Olympic Park Gymnastics Arena on July 9.
"Through daily life services, the bank seeks to enhance contacts with our customers," said a KB Kookmin Bank official. "By continuous development of Liiv, the bank wants the application to become the daily life financial hub for our customers."
Kookmin Bank has introduced a direct payment service with only smartphone numbers for the first time in the local banking industry.
Customers of the commercial bank are allowed to pay for goods with their smartphones immediately through the app “UbPay.”
By registering their bank accounts on the UbPay app, customers can enjoy the direct payment service — not a monthly-based payment — only with their phone numbers.
Over the past few years, Kookmin Bank has led in comprehensive personal banking services on smartphones, dubbed “KB Star Banking.”
The smartphone banking service provided by the nation’s top bank has gained steady popularity. The bank topped the service sector among local financial companies.
A bank spokesman said the development of a universal mobile banking platform for smartphones will benefit banks as well as customers, allowing the banks to deliver stable services to customers while avoiding redundant investment.
“As smartphones rapidly emerge as a new medium of financial transactions, we are racing to adapt to the change,” he said.
Kookmin is considered the pacesetter of the country’s banking industry, thanks to its track record of initiating many advanced services, which its major rivals have to keep up with. Currently most Korean banks provide similar features.
KB Kookmin Card has been expanding its global presence lately in the mobile payment service sector.
The bank’s most recent release is the UnionPay Mobile Card, which enables mobile payments abroad using cards issued in Korea through smartphone USIM chips. This service will first go into effect at member stores in China.
A collaborative project between KB Kookmin Bank, UnionPay International and LG U+, the UnionPay Mobile Card allows consumers to use their foreign credit cards at member stores without using the actual plastic card.
This service is made possible by the smartphone USIM chip. Because UnionPay’s touch payment service will be made compatible with LG U+ USIM chips, customers do not need to purchase an additional chip in order to use the service.
The mobile cards will be accepted at nearly six million UnionPay member stores equipped with NPC readers in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and elsewhere. The card will be available to KB cardholders who possess Android smartphones that support NFC payment.
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