Hana Bank is seeking making strategic investments by acquiring a stake in a ranking Myanmar-based commercial bank to enter the Southeast Asian financial Market.

The move is similar to Hana Bank’s strategy of diversifying its business portfolio by acquiring an equity stake in the Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), the country’s No. 1 commercial bank by assets.

Hana Bank, which operates an office in Yangon, is seeking to open a branch there. If Hana Bank gets a green light on the opening of a branch from Myanmar authorities, the Korean commercial bank plans to launch a marketing blitzkrieg targeting local customers.

President Ji Sung-gyu of Hana Bank and his staffers pose at a ceremony to unveil the bank’s new name “Hana Bank” at the bank’s headquarters in Euljiro, Seoul.

KEB Hana Bank changed its name to Hana Bank, effective Feb. 3. The brand change came four years and five months since Sept. 2015 when Hana Bank merged with Korea Exchange Bank (KEB).

The name change is designed to east inconveniences customers experience and raise the competitiveness of the financial group, the bank said.

Even though KEB indicated the fact the bank was merged with the now-defunct Korea Exchange Bank, the bank said it decided to change its name since consumers found it not easy to pronounce and confusing with those of other banks.

The brand “KEB Hana” was decided at a request of KEB trade union, demanding that KEB be added to the name of the merged bank at the time of the merger. KEB Hana was the sole subsidiary of the financial group, which was not unified under the brand “Hana.” With the unification under the brand “Hana,” the bank plans to raise staff’s sense of belonging and enhance brand competitiveness.

A poster to make a pitch for One More Savings.”

Hana Bank Releases ‘One More Savings,’ Becoming Hit Product

Hana Bank released “One More Savings,” becoming a one-year hit installment product. The product was released in celebration of changing the name of KEB Hana Bank to Hana Bank.

Hana Bank put on the market One More Savaings for three days between Feb. 3 and Feb. 5. The monthly installment product carries an annual interest rate of 5.1 percent, the highest such one in Korea.

The newly installment savings product attracted 837,000 subscribers for the first two days, and the total amounts subscribers deposited for the first day stood at 230 billion won to become a hit product.

Hana Bank’s branch office at Songpa Helio City in southeastern Seoul is flooded with customers who try to subscribe with “One More Savings,” released by the bank in celebration of changing its name to Hana Bank. (Photos: Hana Bank)