Coupang reportedly gets into financing business, adds loan service to its offerings

Coupang is a known e-commerce company in South Korea but will soon offer a new service to expand its portfolio. It is reportedly considering getting into the financing business by opening an online loan market.

As per The Korea Times, business insiders said on Friday, July 8, that after expanding its business in video streaming, food delivery and travel services, Coupang would be adding more to the list. Sources shared that the CFC Preparatory Corp., the corporate entity that Coupang launched earlier this year, submitted documents to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) this month to register as a new firm specializing in credit loans.

While the company was established in January, this is the first time that the CFC Preparatory Corp. has revealed the specific business it will be pursuing. At first, there were speculations that it would be a management consulting, real estate, or investment firm, but now it is clear that Coupang has other plans.

Then again, while an official of the FSC confirmed the company’s application for its loan business, Coupang was not able to comment on the matter as it could not be reached.

It was reported that CFC Preparatory Corp. was also renamed Coupang Financial. With its new business, it is now expected to compete with other emerging loan companies such as Naver Financial, which is being operated by Naver Corp. in collaboration with Mirae Asset Capital.

Experts said Coupang Financial is eligible to be granted a license to operate for its loan service in terms of capital that is said to be KRW40 billion or around $30.7 million. In fact, the amount is even twice the minimum KRW20 billion required under South Korean law.

Many believe that Coupang has been preparing to enter the loan market for some time now, it has been advancing slowly, but the company is persistently working to have a successful debut in the loan service sector in the country.

Korea Joongang Daily reported that while Coupang is still refusing to confirm its business application for its loan business, the license that it will be securing will allow it to provide various offerings such as leases, loans, and credit card services. It was also learned that the company actually registered trademarks for Coupang Financial in June 2019 based on information from the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service.