South Korean lenders that have been actively seeking to making inroads into overseas markets are competitively introducing easy-to-use and foreign currency wiring services to better meet growing demand by foreign national residents in the country and Korean companies with operations in Southeast Asian countries.

KB Kookmin Bank, one of Korea’s leading lenders, said on Monday that it has launched a service that allows customers to directly transfer money from Korea to Vietnam in Vietnamese dong. Previously, customers had to transfer funds from Korea to Vietnam in U.S. dollars first and then exchange them into local currency. This process involved customers having to pay commissions twice.

The latest, simplified wiring service will enable customers to not only send funds directly to Vietnam in local currency but also save about 4,000 won ($3.29) in transfer fees including transit and payment fees thanks to the Korean lender’s partnership with Vietcombank, a commercial bank in Vietnam.

KB Kookmin Bank said it has launched the new transfer service to cater to Vietnamese workers in Korea as well as Korean residents and companies in Vietnam.

In May, another top lender Shinhan Bank also commenced an overseas fund transfer service in its mobile app SOL. Its swift global payment innovation (GPI) service enables easier overseas fund transfers in less than a day. Users are also able to check fund movements in real time.

The mobile app service came after Shinhan Bank introduced the same service offline in December last year, for overseas fund transfers.

In May, Woori Bank joined hands with Cambodia’s leading mobile banking services provider Wing to offer real-time overseas wiring service for customers who want to transfer money between Korea and Cambodia.

Cambodian workers and residents in Korea will be able to easily send money to Cambodia on a real-time basis using Woori global banking app or by visiting an offline branch or using automated machines with only a bank account number and a mobile phone number.

Foreign customers receiving loans from WB Finance, Woori Bank’s Cambodia Unit, will also be able to repay their loans on a real-time basis with funds transferred from Korea to Cambodia.

By Kim Tae-sung and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]