In his New Year’s address, Chairman Kim Jung-tai of the Hana Financial Group said the New Year will see many rapid changes in the financial market, some leading to crises with uncertainty surrounding the financial market.
He noted that excess household debt amounting to 1,300 trillion won is one of the most dangerous factors that could rattle the domestic financial market, followed by the sluggish real estate market, corporate restructuring and turmoil within the political sector. Investment and consumption could be restricted if one of these factors gets out of control, the chairman warned.
Chairman Kim expressed concern over Korea’s exports, given the rise of protectionism sentiment overseas ushered in by populism and nationalism, which could potentially cause foreign exchange and trade wars.
The Davos Forum last year declared the rise of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Since then, the world has been working on its development by mixing digital technologies with biology and physics to create new technologies and experiences, expanding them around the world.
The 4th Industrial Revolution will bring significant change to our livelihoods in the form of artificial intelligence, dig data, internet of things (IoT), and augmented reality (AR). As Bill Gates said, “Banking is necessary, but banks are not,” to predict big changes that await the financial sector in the next 10 years. Financial institutions will have to compete with other industrial sectors for survival in the near future, Kim said.
Kim noted that an Internet bank will start its operations this year, and the marketing campaign for the bank will be waged intensively to attract customers. Furthermore, some 20 pay services will also be in operation amid tough competition. But he said the winner will be an organic business firm, a global form of business in which customers will build a network, which will grow like it has a life of its own and make advances.
Hana Financial Group has been on top of the financial industry running “Hana Members,” a member service in the financial sector, Kim said. To cope with the new challenges, the group also developed “Finnq” a platform for financial transactions in people’s daily lives. The group has also been building a Fintech global financial network environment by taking out a membership of the Blockchain “R3 CEV” for the first time in Korea, the chairman said, adding that limitless competition for Fintech related financial products and services can be said to began now. “The group has over 8 million Hana members and now is the time for us to listen to customers’ voices and improve our services so that Hana Members can grow through Growth Hacking method,” the chairman said, adding, “jumping over the platform competition to grow like an Organic Business.”
In the new year, Hana Members will exchange points through tie-ups with major countries overseas to build a membership network, which is a unique value that its competitors don’t have, the chairman said.
“We also need changes and reform in our corporate culture and operational methods in order to bring about changes,” Kim said, “just like what they did in the ancient Han China, according to Hae-hyun-kyung-jang, the phrase written in the Hyun-ryang-dae-chaek authored by scholar Dong Jun-seo.”
The ancient scholar called for ancient cello to tighten the strings, meaning Han China should open a new chapter in its history for its survival. Chairman Kim said the group would learn from ancient Han China and change its operation to begin a new chapter this year.
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