Busan Bank
Busan Bank, headquartered in South Korea’s second-largest city of Busan, takes the Asiamoney awards this year for best bank for SMEs and best bank for corporate social responsibility.
The bank, led by chief executive Ahn Kam Chan, was established in October 1967 with ambitions to modernise the local economy and connect businesses and consumers to the global financial system. Not surprisingly, Busan Bank came to focus considerable resources and energy on the SME sector.
Over the last 18 months, the bank proved why that was so prescient. Busan Bank enjoys a strong local market position – it has 32% of all deposits and 27% of loans. As the pandemic hit, the bank acted early to implement a series of SME-focused programmes to help local customers overcome the fallout.
That’s not all. Busan Bank is taking its success nationally, aiming to join the ranks of Korean megabanks, one SME at a time. In line with the government and corporate zeitgeist in Seoul, Ahn’s team is particularly keen to expand its role in technology finance.