Shinhan Bank
Shinhan Bank arguably pioneered the finance culture that built the modern banking industry in South Korea. The firm has its roots in Hanseong Bank, which dates back to 1897. But even now, Shinhan is setting the pace for the country’s financial sector.
Under Jin Ok-Dong, who took over as chief executive in March 2019, the bank has made efforts to tackle a big risk: not digitalizing with sufficient haste.
This has meant raising its digital game to stay relevant in the rapidly evolving financial sector in Korea – a feat that makes it Asiamoney’s best domestic bank for 2022.
At the end of 2021, Shinhan announced a W2 trillion ($1.4 billion) investment to accelerate its digital transformation, the largest so far among Korean banks. Half of that amount was earmarked for ramping up bank-linked, online-to-offline businesses, including a food-delivery app slated for launch by the end of 2022. It is working to tie up with 80,000 stores in Seoul and the surrounding area to deliver food using the bank's mobile app.
Shinhan