President Kim Do-jin of Industrial Bank of Korea, delivers his congratulatory speech at the bank’s 58th anniversary ceremony held on Aug.1 at the bank’s head office in Euljiro, downtown Seoul.

The Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) celebrated its 58th anniversary this year by launching a digital service platform to support small and medium-sized companies.

“IBK will share all of its capacity and assets to provide SMEs with opportunities to develop and advance their business through fair competition and help them overcome numerous challenges,” said President Kim Do-jin of IBK at a ceremony held on Aug. 1 at the bank’s head office in Euljiro, Seoul.

“The role and existence value of IBK lies on growing together with small and mid-sized firms in the long-term,” said IBK chief executive Kim Do-jin during the ceremony, adding the bank will remain committed to the industrial and economic growth in the country by supporting small businesses, self-employed people and manufacturers.

The new service package, dubbed Business Operation eXpert (BOX), is designed to provide a wide range of support services to customers on finance, accounting and marketing through online and mobile accessible means.

It became the country’s first lender to release such a platform to offer both financial and non-financial solutions in 12 sectors including financing, online loan application, network expansion, real estate transactions and job matching. The bank will provide the service to its customers and SMEs.

The bank said it will add more service programs to help small companies enhance management efficiency.
The Industrial Bank of Korea started the countdown to the establishment of its Indonesian subsidiary, IBK Indonesia.

The bank is expected to complete the merger process between the two Indonesian banks, which were acquired at the end of last year, by July 31. After the merger, IBK Indonesia will focus on giving out loans to smaller firms just as IBK specializes in lending to small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea.

The bank submitted the document on the merger of the two banks to Indonesia’s stock exchange.The two Indonesian banks are all listed banks with their main offices located in Jakarta.
Agris Bank has 23 branches across the country, while Mitraniaga Bank owns 13.

Agris Bank holds a foreign exchange business license despite its small size. Therefore, it can support exportation and importation of South Korean SMEs operating in Indonesia. The local media said that the IBK has also marked small business loans as its core business in the document recently submitted to the local stock exchange.

A spokesperson from the IBK said, “We aim to complete the merger process in the first half of the year, but it may take longer depending on when the approval comes from the Indonesian authorities.”

Since its establishment in 1961, Industrial Bank of Korea has been committed to honoring its charter of financing small and medium sized enterprises.

While maintaining that traditional role and helping to facilitate the nation’s economic development, in recent years the Bank has extended the scope of its expertise to provide a comprehensive range of financial services to individual customers in a quest to emerge as a leading financial services group.

In pursuit of that goal, IBK says it is making every effort to enhance its competitiveness, achieve balanced growth and strengthen its global presence.

The Bank employs around 10,000 staff and operates a distribution network of 612 branches including 12 overseas branches.
Providing complementary services, the Bank also operates several subsidiaries: IBK Capital Corporation, IBK-SG Asset Management, IBK System Co., Ltd., and IBK Credit Information Corporation.

In 2008, IBK Investment & Securities was launched, focused on meeting the needs of SME customers for services such as IPOs and M&As.

President Kim Do-jin of Industrial Bank of Korea, center, holds the letter O joined by two of the bank’s staff who hold the letters B and X to introduce the bank’s new digital management support platform BOX on the sidelines of the bank’s 58th anniversary celebrated on Aug. 1. (Photo: IBK)