Hyundai Vice President Jeong Heon-taik, left, holds an agreement with Finda CEOs Park Hong-min and Lee Hye-min, center, and Hana Bank Vice President Kim So-jeong. Photo courtesy of Hyundai Motor

Lenders join hands with automaker, convenience store

Banks appear to feel threats as the barriers between business sectors blur, and many companies are trying to tap into the financial segments.

To deal with the challenges, they are joining hands with companies from various businesses both at home and abroad.

Hyundai Motor announced on Oct. 18 that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Hana Bank and Finda, a financial information data platform.

Under the three-way partnership, they strive to offer unprecedented financial products like offering discounted interest rates to those who have safer driving records.

“We will work together with leading players in other sectors so that we can provide differentiated experiences to our customers through data-driven services,” Hyundai Vice President Jeong Heon-taik said.

Last week, Hana opened a hybrid store in eastern Seoul together with BGF Retail, which runs the country’s convenience store chain CU.

The new-concept store provides such financial services as opening a bank account and issuing a debit card through video calls with bank employees.

In fact, global banks also have adopted new services to deal with the outside challenges.

One of them is hybrid banking, which enables clients to access services no matter which method they choose to use. In-vehicle payments and retail store-related banking are major examples.

For instance, JPMorgan agreed to purchase British online wealth manager Nutmeg and OpenInvest, a U.S.-headquartered platform, earlier this year.

Then, the investment banking group announced last month to buy up to 75 percent in Volkswagen’s payment division.

“Connected cars generate new business opportunities, and one of the most promising sectors is the in-vehicle payment. Its market size is expected to reach half trillion dollars by 2030,” Daelim University automotive professor Kim Pil-soo said.

“As the number of connected cars rises, more new services will be launched.”

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