“Digital finance, economic crisis breakthrough” said Yoon Chang-hyun, a lawmaker In South Korea

Representative Yoon Chang-hyun of the Nationalist Party of Korea stated that the fourth industrial revolution, including digital finance, could help overcome the global economic crisis and face new opportunities with the stamina and strategy to respond to rapid changes. Yoon made the remarks at the ‘2023 Future Finance Forum’ organized by Shipbuilding Business at the Westin Chosun Hotel in Sogong, Seoul, on Sept. 26. He said that the global financial environment is rapidly changing due to digital innovation, especially after the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

According to Yoon, digital technology has made it easier to access existing financial services outside the limits of time and place, and individuals can now handle their own financial affairs, which used to require visiting a bank’s branch. He also pointed out that information technology (IT) finance, such as internet specialized banks, virtual assets, and fintech, has changed the financial ecosystem.

Yoon explained that the development of digital finance has led to the “Big Blur” phenomenon, where the boundaries between traditional finance and non-finance are blurring. He cited early fintech companies such as Alipay in China, Square in the U.S., and Revolut in the U.K. as examples of companies that started with payments and expanded into banking. In the case of Revolut, he said, it had 18 million customers as of June last year, making it the size of National Bank of Westminster, one of the UK’s four largest banks.

Furthermore, Yoon emphasized that these changes are affecting the entire financial ecosystem, and traditional financial institutions are focusing on developing customer-friendly technologies to respond to the emergence of new financial institutions.

Finally, Yoon argued that the emergence of new digital finance could be a “way out” of the economic recession. He stated that the fourth industrial revolution would be a new opportunity in the midst of the global economic crisis due to the Ukraine-Russia war, and he looked forward to suggesting ways for domestic digital finance to become competitive in the global market.

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