Korea Exchange Bank

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Korean Exchange Bank / KEB
Type finance
Founded 1967
Location Republic of Korea (South) + overseas branches
Key people Richard F. Wacker (chairman and CEO)
Industry financial services
Products financial products
Net income 960.9 billion won (2007)
Employees 5,695 (2007)
Website KEB online
Korean name
Hangul 한국외환은행
Hanja 韓國外換銀行
Revised Romanization Oehwan eunhaeng
McCune-Reischauer Oehwan ŭnhaeng


Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) (KRXS: 004940) is a South Korean bank specializing in foreign exchange. It is headquartered in Seoul, and was established in 1967.

It was acquired in 2003 by Lone Star Funds, a private U.S. equity fund, as part of the general reorganization of the South Korean financial sector following the Asian financial crisis. In 2006, Lone Star tried to sell the company to the highest bidder, Kookmin Bank, but the plan was scrapped when it faced investigations by South Korean prosecutors and regulators.

In September 2007, HSBC agreed to purchase a controlling stake for $6 billion, but the sale has yet to be approved by the South Korean government and will depend on the outcome of an on-going investigation into the sale to Lone Star.

Contents

[edit] History

Korea Exchange Bank was established in 1967 as a government-owned bank specializing in foreign currency. It was privatized in 1989 and was one of Korea's first commercial banks.

  • January 1975:Started securities business
  • April 1978:Launched Korea's first credit card service (VISA)
  • March 1983:Issued travelers checks
  • February 1985:Official sponsor bank for 1986 Asian Games& 1988 Seoul Olympic Games
  • April 1994:Listed on Korean stock exchange
  • December 1995:Opened foreign exchange research center
  • November 1999:Opened a foreign exchange website offering exchange rate conversion and money exchange services
  • April 2001:Opened the best foreign exchange website in Korea:FXKEB.COM(www.fxkeb.co.kr)
  • February 2002:Selected as the "Best Foreign Exchange Bank in Korea for 2002" by the Global Finance
  • June 2002:Introduced ATM services in foreign currency first in Korea

During the 2002 World Cup Games in Korea and Japan,KEB was the first bank in Korea to export Korean won to another nation, by exporting bundles of 10000 won notes to Japan.

[edit] Currency Exchange

Korea Exchange Bank is the largest exchange bank in South Korea. KEB provides more than 35 currencies for money exchange. The currencies KEB provides are:

All branches of Korea Exchange Bank in South Korea provide currency exchange, with several currencies available immediately.

[edit] Compliments of KEB's Currency Exchange

Korea Exchange Bank receives great compliments on their exchange business. A few of the compliments are:

  • Most of the KEB branches have all the denominations of banknotes the customers want. For example, If a customer exchange 400 US dollars, they can choose to have 200 dollar in 20 dollar notes and the rest in 100 dollar notes.
  • Most of the foreign currency KEB have to sell to their customers are crisp,uncirculated notes from the currency's central bank or keeps good condition notes from people that sold it to them.
  • Because KEB is an expert foreign exchange bank,it has professional counterfeit experts and detectors.www.fx114.com is a website that is run by a KEB counterfeit expert where you can see different countries' security features.
  • Even if you don't have exchange discount coupons,usually every time you exchange money in KEB, you get a discount up to 70%. This applies to non-clients of KEB. Also, KEB gives passport covers to travellers.

[edit] Coin Exchange

Korea Exchange Bank is probably the only bank in the world that exchanges coins.Coins are heavier than banknotes so they have to pay more money to export it back to the nation using the currency.The coin currencies they exchange are:

But KEB recommends foreign coins to be used to buy coffee or chocolate,donate into organizations like UNICEF because as repeated on the cost of shipping it back to the user country,it takes more money.Also, you can only get half the amount of currency you gave with coins.

[edit] Popularity

Even if people do not have an account in KEB, they still use the bank for money exchange. If you are travelling to Korea,it is best to exchange in KEB because of their good rates and discounts.

[edit] Foreign Currency Present

KEB provides Foreign Currency Presents to their clients on-line where the clients can order foreign banknotes for presents to other people. During bank business days, you can order presents under US$50,000. If you order foreign currency present in US dollars, Japanese Yen, Euro, you can get s 40% discount and other currencies in 20% discount. Once, KEB made a Foreign Banknote Set in the New Years where parents bought an album with foreign banknotes like a 100 Chinese Renminbi, and US$2 bill.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links