KB Kookmin to Take On Citibank Korea Customers After the Shutdown of Its Retail Unit

KB Kookmin Bank will start managing the accounts of Citibank Korea’s retail customers. This comes as the local unit of the New York-based financial service company made the decision to shut down its retail business in South Korea.

As Citibank Korea slowly closes its retail service, it was announced this week that KB Kookmin Bank would assume the management of the clients’ accounts. The Seoul-headquartered bank confirmed it would provide financial services to customers of Citibank Korea starting on July 3.

As per the Korea Joongang Daily, KB Kookmin Bank shared that some of the services that it will offer to them include foreign exchange and safety deposit boxes. For this setup, the company recently signed a strategic partnership with Citibank Korea on Tuesday this week.

The signing ceremony was held at the headquarters of KB Kookmin Bank, located in the Western part of Seoul. The Korea Times reported that several company officials were present at the event led by Citibank Korea’s chief executive officer, Yoo Myung Soon and KB Financial Group’s banking arm’s chief, Lee Jae Keun.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) is expected to boost the customer convenience of Citibank’s retail banking. In any case, Citibank Korea first announced its plans to shut down its retail unit in 2021. The company said this will be done in phases in line with its push to reorganize its global operations. Its board agreed to end the consumer banking service in the country in the same year.

“The latest partnership is meaningful in that companies in the same industry cooperated with a goal to protect financial customers,” KB Kookmin Bank’s spokesman said in a statement regarding the cooperation with Citibank Korea. “We will provide customers with innovative financial services while minimizing the challenges of having to shift to KB Kookmin.”

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