Global Loyalty Network (GLN), a global payment platform established by Hana Bank, was spun off as a separate company.
It aims to grow into a next-generation global payment platform that can replace Visa and MasterCard.
To this end, it also opened the door for collaboration with the nation's top five financial groups - Hana, KB, Shinhan, Woori, and NH NongHyup.
GLN offers a service that allows consumers to make online and offline payments, remit money, and withdraw cash anywhere in the world.
In other words, simple payments can be made anywhere through GLN with smartphones and without using credit cards or foreign exchange services.
In Korea, its services are still available only on apps of several GLN partners such as Hana Bank and Toss.
But access to GLN services is expected to soar if GLN joins domestic and foreign networks including the five major Korean financial holding companies.
According to sources in the Korean financial industry on Oct. 19th, Hana Bank will hand over the GLN Project to GLN International after obtaining approval from the Financial Services Commission on Oct. 29.
GLN International was launched in July as a fintech subsidiary of Hana Bank to professionally promote the GLN business.
Han Joon-sung, former vice president of digital general affairs at Hana Financial Group, who has led GLN, was appointed as CEO of GLN. Its initial capital is 10 billion won.
Hana Bank will invest an additional 40 billion won in GLN.
When GLN International completes registration of various licenses for GLN businesses such as the electronic finance industry in October, additional investment and business transfer procedures are also expected to be completed. It also promotes attracting external investment.
Partner Taiwan and Japanese banks are being mentioned as probable investors. Currently, GLN service are available in eight countries including Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, and Hong Kong.
In 2022, the company plans to expand its overseas service areas to more than 20 countries including China, Australia, and India.
Just as you can pay at global visa merchants if you have credit cards with the visa brand, GLN users can pay with various digital assets such as points and mileage given by financial companies as well as withdraw and remit cash from GLN partners around the world.
In particular, GLN service users can pay by scanning QR codes or bar codes at affiliates and withdraw money from local automated devices by simply charging GLN money through partner companies’ apps without having to exchange money.
“As GLN eliminated the process of going through credit card companies disappears for transactions, both consumers and merchants can use GLN’s payment services faster and more conveniently, not to mention the fact that the services do not require credit commissions paid by merchants,” said an official of the financial industry. “It will be a new payment standard in the fading era of credit cards.”
Scalability holds the key to the success of GLN, many financial industry experts say. Leading overseas financial companies and telecommunication companies such as China’s Alipay, Vietnam’s BIDV Bank and VN Pay, and Japan’s NTT Docomo are participating in the GLN platform.
But only Toss, SSG Pay, SK Pay and Zero Pay are GLN’s partners in Korea except for Hana Bank, the parent company of GLN.
“To become a real global hub, many stakeholders must join GLN as partners,” a high-ranking Hana Bank official said. “We are actively promoting cooperation so that the nation's top five banks can partner with GLN.”
Korea’s five major financial holding companies signed a memorandum of understanding on agreeing on the possibility of service cooperation after the spin-off of GLN in December last year.
If the five holding companies’ partners with GLN, customers of Shinhan Bank and KB Kookmin Bank will be able to use GLN services by way of Shinhan Bank’s application “Sol” or Kookmin Bank’s application “KB Star Banking.”
“A follow-up discussion hit a snag due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we decided to discuss ways to cooperate with one another in the future,” said an official of a financial holding company.
“All possibilities are open from participation in services to equity investment.”
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