KT to Promote Digital Finance Biz with Woori Financial

KT Group on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding with Woori Financial Group to strengthen and promote its digital finance business, including MyData, the government-led project to give people more control of their financial data. KT and Woori held a signing ceremony at Woori Bank headquarters in Jung-gu to lead the digital financial market in South Korea.

During the ceremony, the two companies agreed to team up, integrating financial and digital solutions by combining KT’s ICT strengths with Woori’s infrastructure.

CEO Koo Hyun-mo of KT Group attended the event with Chairman Son Tae-seung of Woori Financial Group. Based on the non-binding MOU, the two companies would closely collaborate in using big data and artificial intelligence (AI), constructing a real-time cloud-based interactive platform.

As financial affairs quickly shift to non-face-to-face systems, Koo hopes the partnership would lead the vitalization of the data industry in both financial and telecommunication fields. The agreement would also let two companies would to collect and share their large customer base.

Additionally, KT and Woori would cultivate AI experts specializing in the financial industry and AI technology. The MOU also states that they would conduct a joint training course for human resources to learn and master the knowledge in both fields.

Supporting an Emerging Trend

The emerging trend in South Korea’s fintech industry is increasingly moving towards a more human-centric digital finance model focusing on personal data management.

One of the first areas KT and Woori would collaborate on would be MyData, a government-led project to allow people greater control of their financial data. KT seeks to support how the MyData transformation, pursued by local banks, with its various business models.

Meanwhile, KT’s credit card affiliate BC Card and Woori Card and Woori Bank would cooperate in developing integrated transaction platforms and collaborating on joint marketing strategies.

BC Card holds a 34 percent stake in K-Bank, South Korea’s leading internet bank, while Woori bank has 19.9 percent.