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| A model poses with a sign promoting KB Kookmin Bank's Indonesian rupiah wire service, Friday. Courtesy of KB Kookmin Bank |
By Park Hyong-ki
KB Kookmin Bank has launched a service enabling Indonesians working here to directly wire their money in rupiah to their respective accounts in the Southeast Asian country, the bank said Friday.
Previously, they were only able to send money after exchanging Korean won to U.S. dollars. The bank only allowed them to wire dollar-denominated funds via its networks.
This comes as the country is seeing an increase in the number of Indonesians coming here to work. Also, a growing number of Korean companies are making inroads into the Southeast Asian market.
There are about 41,000 Indonesians in the country, including 33,000 who came here on a work visa, the bank said, citing data from the immigration office.
"Indonesians have become the biggest foreign customers using our wire transfer services," the bank said in a press statement.
"This would make Indonesia one of our biggest markets for money transfers."
KB Kookmin is among local banks that have launched wire transfer services for Indonesians and their currency.
Shinhan Bank also has launched the service as part of it efforts to expand in Southeast Asia.
It also has a service enabling Filipinos to wire money in pesos to their bank accounts there.
The Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK), meanwhile, launched the rupiah wire service ten years ago, it noted.
The bank is seeking to enhance its digital banking service that would be able to compete with Kakao Bank and K bank, while looking for opportunities in Southeast Asia, the bank said.
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