Woori Financial Group targets customer growth in second half, chairman says

Woori Financial Group Chairman Lim Jong-ryong has named customer acquisition as the key management theme for the second half of the year, directing subsidiaries to develop strategies for retaining existing customers while attracting new ones — with the goal of laying a springboard for growth in the months ahead.

Lim chaired a second-half management strategy workshop Thursday at the group's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, Woori Financial Group said. The session was attended by the heads of 16 affiliates — including banking, securities and insurance units — as well as holding company executives.

The roughly two-hour workshop centered on customer acquisition and covered three strategic pillars: finding new customers to expand the group's customer base, retaining existing ones, and driving cross-selling among affiliates to deepen customer relationships. Woori Bank presented its strategy for expanding target customers and boosting joint sales across the group, while Tongyang Life Insurance shared plans for group synergies and non-financial linked services. Woori Card outlined a generation-specific marketing strategy, and the securities unit presented a customer expansion plan based on market trends — all aimed at strengthening the customer base in a manner befitting a comprehensive financial group.

"Customer acquisition is both the value and the foundation of growth for a financial group," Lim said. "We should make winning new customers, retaining existing ones, and deepening customer relationships the core agenda of our medium- and long-term management plan — and immediately push ahead with tasks we can act on right now to dramatically expand our customer base."

Lim also stressed the importance of rigorous consumer protection and internal controls. "Consumer protection must be pursued with a focus on prevention, under the recognition that it is a commitment to our customers and the market," he said.

He added that the group must steadfastly carry out four key tasks: implementing best practices in financial consumer protection governance, preventing voice phishing and other financial crimes affecting everyday lives, stopping mis-selling of complex financial investment products, and eradicating improper sales practices in insurance products.

"Airtight internal controls are the foundation that goes beyond preventing financial accidents — they substantively underpin the protection of financial consumers," Lim said. He called for continued improvements to infrastructure and systems that make financial transactions more convenient, and said the group must also upgrade its financial and psychological support framework for customers facing economic hardship.

Lim identified the recovery of the bank's earnings power and the strengthening of non-bank competitiveness as the two key priorities for the second half.

For the banking unit, he called for stronger sales momentum — including attracting core deposits and corporate deposits — along with improved cost competitiveness. For non-bank units, he urged a stronger market position. He also stressed the importance of tightening soundness management in preparation for further monetary tightening by the Bank of Korea.

The workshop also reviewed progress on productive finance and inclusive finance, two major government policy priorities. Woori Financial Group said it had already achieved 82.5 percent of its full-year productive finance supply target of 21.8 trillion won ($14.6 billion) in the first half alone. The group also raised the target for its "Future Co-Growth Project" — an internal initiative supporting productive and inclusive finance — from 80 trillion won to 90 trillion won.

Going forward, Woori Financial Group said it would channel productive finance into high-growth sectors such as advanced strategic industries and innovative companies, while focusing inclusive finance efforts on identifying and addressing the difficulties faced by vulnerable groups through on-the-ground engagement.

"Productive finance is both an opportunity to demonstrate Woori Financial Group's corporate finance capabilities and a new pillar of group growth," Lim said. "Inclusive finance is finance that coexists with the market and saves lives — it must be continuously strengthened on the basis of sincerity."

With the second half now underway, Lim said the group must build a foundation for a leap forward. "If the second quarter was the moment Woori Financial Group regained its confidence, the second half is the time to secure a springboard for the next leap," he said.

He also invoked the Red Queen Effect to underscore the need for speed. "In an environment where everyone is running in the same direction — like the Red Queen Effect — only organizations that move faster can advance," he said. "In the second half, the bank and non-bank units, the holding company and subsidiaries, must all move in one direction centered on the customer, and execute faster than the competition."

Last month, Lim visited Japan and Taiwan to conduct investor relations sessions for global investors, where he highlighted the gradual strengthening of Woori Financial Group's capital position, including improvements in its common equity tier 1 ratio.