SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) today announced that it has entered into a joint venture agreement with Hana Financial Group to promote the fintech business.

Under the agreement, SK Telecom will hold a 49 percent equity stake in the joint venture, with Hana Financial Group holding the remaining 51 percent. The two companies will establish ‘Hana-SK Fintech Corporation (tentative name of the joint venture)’ with a capital stock of KRW 50 billion.

By bringing together SK Telecom’s advanced mobile technologies and big data analytics with Hana Financial Group’s extensive experience in financial products and mobile financial services, the newly formed company will develop and launch an integrated mobile financial services platform to enhance customer experience.

The platform will offer a wide variety of mobile financial services that are most frequently used in people’s daily lives – including mobile easy payment, mobile remittance and mobile asset management - through a single mobile app to enable customers to enjoy the services in the most convenient and accessible manner. In addition, the platform will also combine diverse benefits offered by SK Telecom (e.g. membership discounts, data, content, etc) to maximize customer satisfaction.

The joint venture company is scheduled to launch the platform in the first half of 2017. It will also promote international partnerships to expand its fintech services to the global market.

Moreover, the joint venture will focus on nurturing fintech startups to contribute to the qualitative growth of the overall fintech industry. It will engage with startups to help develop their ideas from an early stage with the aim to create more innovative fintech services through the application of its extensive knowhow in ICT and financial business.

“The joint venture will enrich customers’ lives through a new variety of innovative fintech services developed by converging Hana Financial Group’s financial services and SK Telecom’s ICT and mobile services. It will also work closely with startups to build an open fintech ecosystem.” said Kim Jung-tae, Chairman of Hana Financial Group. 

“The mission of the joint venture is to realize an integrated fintech platform that enables customers to use mobile financial services in the most convenient and secure manner,” said Jang Dong-hyun, CEO and President of SK Telecom. “SK Telecom and Hana Financial Group will join forces to revolutionize customer experience and value.”