Woori Bank launches digital express office

Woori Bank has opened three digital express offices in Seoul and Paju, Gyeonggi Province, as part of its digital transformation efforts, the lender said Monday.

The offices feature three types of digital devices — digital desks, smart kiosks and ATMs. The bank said that customers can handle most of their banking by using the three devices at the digital express offices.

All of the offices had been used as conventional sales offices and bank branches until December 2021. But with other major commercial banks — including Woori — closing down conventional sales offices in line with the rise of non-face-to-face transactions and digital banking, they are moving to introduce digital banking devices for their customers to handle basic financial transactions.

Woori said that the digital express offices are basically unmanned, but added that it would staff some of these offices with bank clerks to help those unaccustomed to using digital devices do their banking without difficulty.

“We will fulfill our social responsibility by ensuring that our customers do not have any difficulties in using our services even at the digital express offices,” a spokesman at the lender said.

Toward that end, Woori plans to make its employees stay at the digital offices for some time, so that they can help customers learn how to use the devices.

Besides Woori, other commercial lenders are anticipated to close more of their sales offices, with more people getting used to making mobile transactions and refraining from using conventional transaction methods.

According to data from Rep. Kang Min-kuk of the main opposition People Power Party, banks closed down 1,275 of their sales offices between 2016 and 2020. Of particular note is the increasing number of closures over time. In 2016, they shut down 273 offices nationwide, and the number rose to 332 in 2020, according to the lawmaker.