As the number of foreigners working in Korea increases, they are emerging as a major consumer group. Accordingly, Korean companies that are targeting foreigners with specialized services are also on the rise.
Accordingly, we are providing remittance services between the home country and Korea at reasonable fees for long-term stays, and operating foreign-specific sales offices to provide customized services for foreigners, such as supporting the insurance subscription process in multiple languages. In addition, personal shopper services for foreign tourists staying for shopping or sightseeing purposes are appearing, increasing user satisfaction.
According to statistics on foreigners, the number of registered foreigners in Korea has steadily increased from 1,348,626 in 2020 to 1,488,353 by the end of 2024. This figure accounts for approximately 5.2% of the domestic population. In particular, although the increase is smaller than that of domestic residents, the income level and consumption of foreigners engaged in economic activities in Korea are also gradually increasing. According to Statistics Korea, the average annual salary per foreigner increased from 29,257,000 won in 2020 to 31,797,000 won in 2022. In addition, according to the Korea Immigration Policy Institute, the total credit card spending by foreigners increased by approximately 65% from 3.4 trillion won in 2019 to 5.6 trillion won in 2023, and the scale of spending has steadily increased even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
◆ From domestic banks to card companies, equipped with services specialized for foreigners
According to the financial sector, banks are reducing their branches but increasing their branches specializing in foreigners, expanding their contact points with foreign customers. As of the first quarter of this year, the number of banks specializing in foreigners is 36, and it is expected that the number will exceed 40. Toss is also preparing to launch an overseas remittance service for the 2 million long-term foreign residents in Korea. To this end, Toss is preparing a service in cooperation with Sentbe, a global foreign exchange total solution company, with the goal of launching it within the third quarter.
First, Shinhan Card announced on the 22nd that it has launched the 'E9pay Shinhan Card First', a credit card exclusively for foreigners, in collaboration with E9pay, an overseas remittance fintech company. Financial accessibility has been greatly improved so that foreign customers can conveniently obtain cards. Foreign customers can receive card product information in a total of 16 languages through the E9pay app. It will also provide overseas remittance fee discounts until the end of this year.
Shinhan Card has also relaxed the criteria for issuing credit cards to foreigners. Previously, only foreigners with a regular balance (time deposits, etc.) of 50 million won or more could be issued credit cards, but the threshold has been lowered to 10 million won or more (transaction period of 1 month or more).
In addition to Shinhan Card, Hana Card and BC Card have also introduced cards exclusively for foreigners. Samsung Card is also considering launching a card exclusively for foreigners.
◆ Sentbee is popular for its foreigner-friendly services, including reasonable overseas remittance fees and multilingual customer service.
The personal small overseas remittance service of Sentbe, a global foreign exchange total solution company, is gaining attention from foreigners residing in Korea because it offers a service with fees that are 90% lower than those of existing banks. In particular, it is popular as a fast and convenient service because it allows remittances to more than 50 countries around the world in less than 5 minutes using a mobile app, despite the low fees.
Sentbe provides foreigner-friendly services by supporting online and offline CS consultations in multiple languages, including English, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino Tagalog, and Nepali. In addition to existing bank accounts, you can choose a receiving option that suits your overseas environment and personal situation, such as card remittance, cash pickup, cash delivery, and mobile wallet. This is useful for foreigners who need to regularly remit money to their home countries for living expenses, as well as expatriates, families of international students, and travelers.
In addition to this, Sentbe has been providing various programs to help foreign customers settle into a stable life in Korea. The 'Korean Class', a monthly Korean language class for Indonesians living in Korea, provides language education as well as essential information needed for living in Korea in their native language, and also helps foreigners living in Korea to settle into a stable life in Korea by operating a sports competition where they can understand each other's culture and become one through soccer.
◆ Strengthening specialized services such as hiring foreign insurance planners and operating foreign-focused sales offices, Hanwha Life Insurance
Hanwha Life Insurance operates foreign-focused sales offices and provides multilingual services in customer guides and sales support systems to expand accessibility to foreign customers. Starting with Chinese in June of last year, it has expanded its support languages to Vietnamese and Russian.
In areas with many foreign consumers, about 1,600 foreign insurance planners (FPs) were also secured to operate foreign-oriented sales outlets. Hanwha Life Insurance’s sales agency (GA) Hanwha Life Financial Services Gangil Branch has 60 out of 66 planners from Vietnam, and 95% of insurance contracts are foreign. Shindorim Branch has 95 out of 102 planners from China, accounting for 93%.
Hanwha Life Insurance plans to accelerate efforts to dominate the foreign market this year by introducing a multilingual conversion function to its sales support system to improve the sales convenience of insurance planners and establishing a marketing strategy to target foreign customers.
◆ Expanding convenience for foreigners by providing foreign language speaking staff and personal shopper service, CJ Olive Young
CJ Olive Young (hereinafter referred to as Olive Young) is strengthening its offline store strategy to meet the rapidly increasing demand for K-beauty from foreign tourists. Olive Young is continuously improving shopping convenience by managing stores with a large number of foreign visitors and a high proportion of sales as 'global tourist districts'. The number of Olive Young global tourist district stores, which was 10-20 in the mid-2010s, has now increased to about 110, including in Myeongdong, Gangnam, Hongdae, Busan, and Jeju in Seoul.
Olive Young is prioritizing the placement of foreign language-speaking employees in stores for tourists visiting global tourist destinations, and is attaching foreign language guides throughout the store for major ongoing promotions. It has also introduced electronic labels that list product names in both Korean and English for easy product information. In addition, Olive Young Gangnam Town, a representative store in the Gangnam area of Seoul, will be piloting the 'Olive Young Personal Shopper' service until the end of March. It will provide store guidance in four languages: Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese, and provide beauty product consulting by category of interest.
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