Jeonbuk Bank is a regional commercial bank serving South Korea, part of JB Financial Group alongside Kwangju Bank, JB Woori Capital, and JB Asset Management. With roughly 1,100–1,400 employees headquartered in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, and branches operating nationwide, Jeonbuk Bank provides retail and business banking, including a growing focus on financial products for the country's non-Korean resident population. Its mission: extend reliable, inclusive banking to every community it serves, from local businesses to South Korea's immigrant workforce.
The Challenge
South Korea is home to 2.5 million non-Korean residents, a fast-growing population that traditional banking had largely left underserved. Sending money home meant slow, costly transfers, a common barrier to financial inclusion for a workforce Korean banks hadn't built products for.
The Solution
Jeonbuk Bank partnered with Nium to launch South Korea's first global remittance service built specifically for its non-Korean resident community. The partnership pairs Jeonbuk Bank's local presence with Nium's real-time payments infrastructure, delivering competitively priced remittances alongside a broader suite of banking products, from loans to money transfers, for foreign residents.
The Results
Through partnership with Nium, Jeonbuk Bank achieved:
- A first for Korea: the country's first global remittance service purpose-built for its 2.5 million non-Korean residents.
- Real-time, not overnight: real-time payment services replace slower, costlier traditional remittance channels.
- Reach beyond remittance: the partnership extends past payments into loans and other banking products for foreign residents.
Looking Ahead
Streamlining the process to get money home faster, more affordably, and more reliably remains the goal. Jeonbuk Bank plans to keep expanding banking services for non-Korean residents as part of its financial inclusion strategy.
