Bankware Global is a SW (software) company that competes with global big techs such as Oracle, Teminos, and Infosys with its technology. To compete with them on the global stage, we need funds and manpower. We will take a leap forward through listing on KOSDAQ. “We will lay the foundation for this.”
Lee Eun-joong, CEO of Bankware Global, which requested a preliminary listing review from the Korea Exchange in February, said in a recent interview with Money Today, “We are the only company in Korea that creates core banking solutions, and even if we expand our horizons to Asia, there are not many.” “I want to raise funds through listing to lay the foundation for a leap forward and at the same time let people know that there is a SW company with this level of capability in Korea,” he said.
Bankware Global is considered a powerhouse in core banking solutions. IT systems in the financial industry such as banks are largely divided into channel system, core bankingCha and information system. Channel system refers to a system that manages the system that customers access to use financial services, such as mobile apps, homepages, ATMs (automated teller machines), and bank counters. Since it is common for each customer to have multiple accounts and the transaction details for each account are different, the data is very complex and has the characteristic of being large in scale.
The core banking system is a system that process transactions for each customer’s account collected through various channels, such as simple deposits and withdrawals, foreign exchange transactions, deposits, loans, trusts, and financial product subscriptions. Tasks such as integrated management of channels, authentication and control of various requests coming from channels, and control of fund flow for various types of transactions are performed in this area. Core banking is literally the core of the customer financial system, including banks.
President Lee explained, “With the advancement of IT technology, the core banking system has also evolved.” IBM’s mainframe-based core banking solution dominated an era in the 1970s, Unix-based core banking emerged as a trend from the 1990s, and the third generation, cloud-based core banking, emerged from the 2010s. Bankware Global is considered a leader in the 3rd generation cloud core banking solution.
Among Bankware Global’s total of about 400 executives and employees, about 40 people, including CEO Lee Kyung-jo and President Lee Eun-joong, have participated in the core banking solution business at IBM for decades. Established in 2010 as a cloud-based core banking solution provider, this year marks its 14th anniversary. In addition to K Bank, one of Korea’s leading internet banks, Hyundai Card, KB Kookmin Card, Hyundai Capital, Hana Capital, OK Savings Bank, and SBI Not only domestic financial companies such as savings banks, but also financial companies in major Asian countries such as China Construction Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Taiwan’s Line Bank, and Japan’s iPul have become Bankware Global’s customers. Sales, which were only 1.5 billion won in 2011, the year after the company was founded, are expected to reach 71.5 billion won as of last year. The average annual sales growth rate is 37.9%.
Last year’s sales forecast is a significant decrease compared to the highest ever sales in 2021 (KRW 93.5 billion). Among the projects being carried out at the time, sales decreased and profitability deteriorated due to the impact of a bad order business. Even after reflecting this, Bankware Global has shown a steady upward trend in performance as the only core banking solution company in Korea. President Lee said, “The impact of the bad orders has already been resolved in the first half of last year,” and predicted, “Starting this year, we will be able to kill two birds with one stone, including top-line growth and improved profitability.”
He expects good news to continue in domestic and overseas markets this year. Starting with internet banks, we are expanding our references (business performance) by securing customer bases such as capital companies that mainly do business such as installments and leasing, and even savings banks. In addition, projects in Asian countries such as Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia are also going smoothly. This is President Lee’s explanation. This is because, as the adoption rate of cloud computing infrastructure increases, demand for building next-generation systems is increasing in the financial sector, which was relatively conservative toward change.
President Lee said, “With cloud technology being introduced in earnest, a tectonic shift is occurring in the core banking software market.” He added, “By completing the listing, we will spread the word that Korea also has a strong core banking software and recruit many great talents to lay the foundation for a leap forward.” “It is,” he said.