An ad for “Sol Global,” Shinhan Bank’s special financial service to foreign customers in Korea. (Photo: Shinhan Bank)

Shinhan Bank said on Nov. 20 that it will launch "SOL Global" to provide optimized mobile services to foreign customers living in South Korea.

Since CEO Jin Ok-dong took office, Shinhan Bank has been carrying out the "SSIM; Start! Small & Innovate Movement" project to collect diverse opinions from the site and quickly reflect them as customer services with the flexibility of digital nomads.

As the first task of its SSIM project, it has launched "SOL Global," which includes innovation of Customer First, which replaces global S banking, which used to be in charge of non-face-to-face transactions for foreigners living in Korea.

Through the "SOL Global," mobile banking members and first overseas remittance transactions have become possible without visiting a store. In addition, it has drastically increased user convenience by applying mobile OTP and financial transactions without public certification.

At the same time, the bank faithfully included the services of comparing foreign exchange rates and commissions by currency, deposits, new credit card bills, bank statements, currency exchange rate notification, and public payment.

It also has an open banking service that started at the end of October, allowing foreigners trading multiple banks to manage their financial assets conveniently with just SOL Global.

“We will make efforts to make it the easiest and most convenient mobile banking service for foreigners living in Korea,” said a Shinhan Bank official, adding, “We will provide a true global digital financing service through Shinhan's global networks.”

The number of foreigners planning to stay in Korea for the foreseeable future has grown to nearly two million, and in response, Shinhan Bank has created global banking services for those foreign companies and individuals who call Korea home.

In August 2011, Shinhan Bank organized a separate unit specializing in foreign clients and investment companies. Its main job is to devise services and products adapted to these clients, such as foreign direct investment support. For foreign investment companies, 80 of Shinhan Bank’s branches provide services that take the hassle out of putting down roots in Korea.

For personal clients, Shinhan has installed “Foreign Customer Desks” at 40 branches located in districts frequented by foreigners. The employees who work at these booths speak multiple languages and have expertise in the finance field.

As a result of these efforts, Shinhan Bank has been seeing impressive results. Last September, the number of newly registered foreign-invested companies increased over 200 percent year on year, and its market share rose to 20 percent from last year’s 8 percent.

In its first five years of offering services tailored to foreigners, Shinhan Bank has been constantly making improvements in its system to provide a favorable banking environment to its customers.

The range of languages supported started off with English and Korean at first, and have now expanded to include Chinese and Japanese.

On Tehran Boulevard, a popular site for foreign investment banks leading from Samseong Station to Seocho Station, Shinhan has installed seven foreign direct investment centers.

This year, more centers have opened in Songdo, Jeju, Busan and Seosomun-dong, Sogong-dong and Gangnam District in Seoul, with 14 in total.

Shinhan Bank also decided to place foreign employees in these centers and provide presentations in various languages containing information about the differences in countries’ retirement pension plans and foreign exchange trading.

As the flow of Chinese capital into the country is rising, Shinhan is also enhancing its expertise in China-related investment consultation. The bank’s Chinese employees have work experience in major Chinese banks, and some are even certified lawyers in China.

For foreign clients of Shinhan Bank who are traveling abroad, Shinhan opened “Korea Desks” in 77 branches across 16 countries, including Japan.