Foreign workers wearing traditional Vietnamese conical hats harvest potatoes in a rural village in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, July 23, 2025. Yonhap
Korean savings banks are stepping up efforts to tap the foreigner finance market, which has traditionally been dominated by commercial lenders, amid a steady rise in the country’s foreign resident population, industry officials said Wednesday.
Data from the Ministry of Justice showed that the number of foreign nationals living in Korea increased steadily from 1.96 million in 2021 to around 2.83 million as of October last year, marking a record high. They now account for more than 5 percent of the nation’s total population.
As their presence grows, so does their share of financial activity, including spending, payments and cross-border remittances. In response, savings banks have begun rolling out a range of tailored products for international customers, such as specialized savings accounts, installment plans, payment cards and loan programs.
The focus is on addressing gaps in access to financial services, which migrant workers often find difficult to obtain. Savings banks see an opportunity to leverage their experience in providing mid-rate loans to low- and mid-credit borrowers, along with their strong regional networks, to better serve the expanding foreign resident segment.
Among them, Welcome Savings Bank is considered the most aggressive in expanding into the foreigner finance market.
The bank operates a dedicated lending program for international workers holding E-9 nonprofessional employment visas, extending credit to a group that has often faced difficulty accessing traditional financial services.
It also launched a debit card exclusively for global customers last year to meet growing demand for payments and remittances.
In addition, the firm partnered with cross-border payments fintech company SentBe to introduce a brokerage service for deposit products tailored to foreign nationals. The service streamlines the account opening and subscription process for non-Korean residents and was recently designated as an innovative financial service by the Financial Services Commission.
OK Savings Bank is also offering unsecured credit loans to E-9 visa holders. The product is available to foreign wage earners aged 18 to 45.
Source: Korea Times News
