The Financial Services Commission (FSC) received applications from three consortia on Wednesday. Toss teamed up with foreign and domestic investors, including Hanwha Investment and Securities and Bespin Global, which develops and offers a cloud management platform.
The second consortium was led by Kiwoom Securities, an online brokerage service company, which partnered with Hana Financial, SK Telecom, Eleven Street and more than 20 others. Anyband Smart Bank was the third consortium involving three unknown partners.
There are two internet-only banks, K bank and Kakao Bank, which have gained popularity by providing diversified loan services and easy lending to young smartphone users. They have forced commercial banks to renovate their online and mobile banking services.