Regulators in South Korea have asked local banks to open up their systems to local technology companies.

Speaking to a group of senior banking executives, Choi Jong-ku said that opening up banking systems to financial technology firms could improve payment options for customers.

The Chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), Choi noted that banks already allow their competitors to access their technology to speed up certain processes.

Currently, payment applications must have ties to a bank for their services to work. On top of that, a customer that wants to use their services must also have a bank account with the partner bank.

Under the system proposed by the FSC, a customer could access any bank via an application, without that application having to hold ties to a specific financial institution.

"We are going to build a good environment for financial companies and startups to connect their services and transform into digital platforms that can compete with global tech giants," said Choi. “We hope the financial companies can support the development of  Unicorn  Unicorn Unicorns represent privately held startup companies whose value exceeds $1 billion. The term itself was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee back in 2013, with Unicorns since assuming the gold standard of companies.At the time of writing, approximately 465 unicorns exist, with standouts becoming ubiquitous in everyday life. This includes Ant Financial, DiDi, Airbnb, Stripe, Lyft, and Palantir Technologies, among many others.While all wildly successful, many unicorns are themselves the products of company buyouts, given its existing designation.For example, many of these companies’ valuation has swelled due to buyouts from large public companies. This has proven to be a recursive trend in with major industry players such as Apple, Facebook, and Google focusing on acquisitions rather than capital expenditures and development of internal investment projects.This strategy has played out over the past few years with large companies opting to instead augment their own technology portfolio via buyouts, rather than in-house developments.Unicorns Benefitting from New TechnologyOf note, many unicorns have succeeded without launching their own Initial Product Offering (IPOs), which run multiple risks. Traditionally, many large brands and companies have relied on such stock offerings as a means to bolster valuation and raise money. However, IPOs can result in the evaluation of a company if the public market thinks a company is worth less than its investor base.Unicorns also have benefitted from other factors, including the availability of new technology. Social media in this sense has been an integral component to unicorns’ success, helping achieve economies of scale.Furthermore, the advent of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology, platforms, and cloud computing has also played a key role in the growth of unicorns. Unicorns represent privately held startup companies whose value exceeds $1 billion. The term itself was coined by venture capitalist Aileen Lee back in 2013, with Unicorns since assuming the gold standard of companies.At the time of writing, approximately 465 unicorns exist, with standouts becoming ubiquitous in everyday life. This includes Ant Financial, DiDi, Airbnb, Stripe, Lyft, and Palantir Technologies, among many others.While all wildly successful, many unicorns are themselves the products of company buyouts, given its existing designation.For example, many of these companies’ valuation has swelled due to buyouts from large public companies. This has proven to be a recursive trend in with major industry players such as Apple, Facebook, and Google focusing on acquisitions rather than capital expenditures and development of internal investment projects.This strategy has played out over the past few years with large companies opting to instead augment their own technology portfolio via buyouts, rather than in-house developments.Unicorns Benefitting from New TechnologyOf note, many unicorns have succeeded without launching their own Initial Product Offering (IPOs), which run multiple risks. Traditionally, many large brands and companies have relied on such stock offerings as a means to bolster valuation and raise money. However, IPOs can result in the evaluation of a company if the public market thinks a company is worth less than its investor base.Unicorns also have benefitted from other factors, including the availability of new technology. Social media in this sense has been an integral component to unicorns’ success, helping achieve economies of scale.Furthermore, the advent of Peer-to-Peer (P2P) technology, platforms, and cloud computing has also played a key role in the growth of unicorns. Read this Term fintechs."

FSC has to do its part

A local banking group responded to Choi’s statements by saying that the regulator needs to play a role in making the changes it says it wants a reality.

“The government should pursue regulatory reforms first to strengthen the financial industry and boost collaboration with  Fintech  Fintech Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to supply a technological service that not only simplifies but also aids consumers, business operators, and networks.This is done by optimizing business processes and financial operations through the implementation of specialized software, algorithms, and automated computing processes. Transitioning from the roots of the financial sector, fintech providers can be found through a multitude of industries such as retail banking, education, cryptocurrencies, insurance, nonprofit, and more. While fintechs cover a vast array of business sectors, it can be broken down into four classifications which are as followed: Business-to-business for banks, Business-to-business for banking business clients, business-to-consumers for small businesses, and consumers. More recently, fintechs presence has become increasingly apparent within the trading sector, primarily for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.The creation and use of Bitcoin can also be contributed to innovations brought upon by fintechs while smart contracts through blockchain technology have simplified and automated contracts between buyers and sellers. As a whole, fintechs applications are growing more diverse with a consumer-centric focus while its applications continue to innovate the trading and cryptocurrency sectors through automated technologies and business practices. Financial Technology (fintech) is defined as ay technology that is geared towards automating and enhancing the delivery and application of financial services. The origin of the term fintechs can be traced back to the 1990s where it was primarily used as a back-end system technology for renowned financial institutions. However, it has since grown outside the business sector with an increased focus upon consumer services.What Purpose Do Fintechs Serve?The main purpose of fintechs would be to supply a technological service that not only simplifies but also aids consumers, business operators, and networks.This is done by optimizing business processes and financial operations through the implementation of specialized software, algorithms, and automated computing processes. Transitioning from the roots of the financial sector, fintech providers can be found through a multitude of industries such as retail banking, education, cryptocurrencies, insurance, nonprofit, and more. While fintechs cover a vast array of business sectors, it can be broken down into four classifications which are as followed: Business-to-business for banks, Business-to-business for banking business clients, business-to-consumers for small businesses, and consumers. More recently, fintechs presence has become increasingly apparent within the trading sector, primarily for cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.The creation and use of Bitcoin can also be contributed to innovations brought upon by fintechs while smart contracts through blockchain technology have simplified and automated contracts between buyers and sellers. As a whole, fintechs applications are growing more diverse with a consumer-centric focus while its applications continue to innovate the trading and cryptocurrency sectors through automated technologies and business practices. Read this Term startups," Kim Tae-young, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, told Choi at a meeting earlier this week.

For his part, Choi has also promised that the FSC is going to reduce hurdles, which currently prevent the banking system in South Korea from opening up, for both banks and financial technology companies.

According to the Korea Times, the regulator is going to make those changes by the end of March this year, with the goal of having open-interface payment applications up and running by the end of the year.