NH Nonghyup Bank pushes digital-first reboot under new CEO

Kang Tae-young, CEO of NH Nonghyup Bank. (Han Joo-hyung)

NH Nonghyup Bank is aiming for a digital revival under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Kang Tae-young that will help it to reclaim its reputation as an industry innovator.

Since taking office in January 2025, Kang - who previously headed the bank’s digital strategy and digital finance divisions - has been committed to restoring NH Nonghyup’s digital edge and repositioning it as a leading digital bank. In a recent interview with Maeil Business Newspaper, he outlined a strategy focused on partnerships with tech companies and the development of a virtual asset roadmap, including stablecoins.

Asked about the next growth drivers in finance, Kang cited the integration of financial and non-financial data, the fourth internet-only bank, and virtual asset ventures.

“In data integration, we have recently partnered with Naver Corp. to leverage both companies’ vast datasets and enhance customer benefits,” he said.

Kang expects strong synergies from the NH-Naver alliance. “Naver Shopping data, for example, includes information on consumer spending patterns, color and size preferences, and dining habits. Combined with real estate and map data, these insights can help refine credit scoring models and expand lending to ‘thin file’ customers.”

The partnership will extend across the broader NH Group, Kang added, with projects underway to use Naver’s payment infrastructure for social voucher and transit card programs. Discussions are also ongoing about enabling point exchanges between NH Members Points and Naver Points, facial recognition payments at Hanaro Mart, and linking Naver Pay with NH Investment & Securities for simplified stock trading.

The bank is also participating in the Korea SOHO Bank consortium led by Korea Credit Data (KCD) to develop tailored services for small businesses. “By combining KCD’s rich small business data with our nationwide branch network, we can offer services specifically designed for local business owners,” Kang said. “Instead of relying solely on collateral or financial statements, we will shift the focus to business performance and growth potential.” He added that the partnership will also strengthen the bank’s credit evaluation capabilities for small office/home office clients.

For everyday consumers, Kang emphasized a more seamless experience. “If a customer’s loan application is declined at NH, we do not want the process to end there. They can be referred to Naver’s loan comparison platform to explore alternatives. Naver gains a user, and we receive a referral fee.”

In the virtual asset sector, Kang said the bank is actively exploring stablecoin applications. “We are studying international use cases in payments and asset tokenization. We will develop specific commercialization strategies once regulatory frameworks are in place.”

On the presidential candidates’ pledges to lift the “one exchange-one bank” rule, Kang noted the bank’s past partnerships with exchanges such as Bithumb and Coinone and expressed openness to new collaborations. He said easing the restriction could bring positive effects, as the virtual asset market has significantly matured under emerging regulatory structures.