Hana Bank and Woori Bank team up to keep branch open

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Hana Bank and Woori Bank team up to keep branch open

Published: 26 Apr. 2022, 18:42 Updated: 26 Apr. 2022, 18:43

Woori Bank and Hana Bank open their first joint branch in Shinbong-dong of Yongin District, Gyeonggi on Monday. [YOUN SANG-UN]

Woori Bank and Hana Bank opened a joint branch in Suji District, Gyeonggi, on Monday.

The arrangement is the first of its kind in Korea.

Woori Bank's Shinbong Branch was to close due to the lack of customers, but it struck the sharing deal with Hana Bank, which closed a branch in the area, and remained open.

The two banks have divided the 150-square-meter (1615-square-foot) commercial space with a glass partition and are operating it from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. focusing on simple services, such as cash withdrawals and bill payments.

Two tellers will work for each bank, but the banks will not share any services or financial products.

"I was worried when I first heard that the Woori Bank branch will close. As it's still open, I won't need to take a 30-minute bus ride to the neighborhood to pay for my bills," said Kim Sun-myeong, 63, who visited the newly opened joint branch.

Bank branches in Korea are transforming, with financial groups shutting them as they pivot to digital services. The pandemic also contributed to the closings, as fewer people used the branches.

According to a Financial Supervisory Service report released last month, Korea had 6,094 bank branches last year. That's 311 fewer than in 2020, the largest drop since the 312 closings in 2017.

Banks still need to serve customers who prefer not to use online banking, and some are working with convenience stores to maintain a community presence.

In October last year, Hana Bank partnered with a CU convenience store and installed a Smart Teller Machine (SMT) in Songpa District, eastern Seoul, so that customers can conduct virtual consultations with a teller.

Kookmin Bank is discussing joint branches with Shinhan Bank.

"Due to the fast development of IT and the expansion of non-face-to-face operations, more branches will close," said Lee Sang-wook, a business management professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology. "It is essential that authorities provide different measures for branches that are closing down due to low profitability."

BY YOON SANG-UN [[email protected]]