South Korea’s top Shinhan Financial Group is teaming up with Amazon.com Inc. for leadership in the burgeoning financial technology sector and its goal of becoming an Asian financial leader by 2020.

According to multiple sources from the financial industry on Monday, Cho Yong-byoung, chairman and chief executive of Shinhan Financial Group, will leave for the United States as early as Wednesday to hold an investor relations (IR) conference inviting local institutional investors and also visit the Amazon.com headquarters in Seattle to sign a business agreement in the financial technology, or fintech, sector. The upcoming agreement will include partnership between the two parties in the overall fintech business and also tying up with Amazon Pay, an online payments platform operated by Amazon.com.

Amazon Pay, which was launched in 2013, is world’s second-largest online payment service with 33 million subscribers as of last year. The service provides consumers with a payment platform upon shopping not only at Amazon’s online store but also other online malls. It can also be used to pay donations, taxes, and insurances online. The latest partnership will involve Shinhan Financial Group adding its debit card as one of the payment methods offered by Amazon Pay.

As part of efforts to boost competitiveness in the growing fintech sector, Korean financial institutions including Shinhan Financial have been forging partnerships in the so-called “pay service” sector with online payment service providers.

Last year, Shinhan Bank entered into partnership with China’s top three online payment solution providers including Alipay and WeChat Pay by offering its debit card as a new payment option. The latest partnership with a U.S. online retailer will allow Shinhan Financial Group to expand its fintech business not only in the Asian market but also in the U.S.

By Kim Tae-sung

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