Busan is emerging as a smart city. In the Global Smart Center Index (SCI) released by British consulting firm Z/Yen in May, Busan ranked 27th out of 76 major cities worldwide. SCI is an index indicating the competitiveness of digital-centric smart cities. Busan climbed 35 places in one year, from 62nd last year. Busan established the Digital Economy Innovation Office the previous year and the "Busan Special Committee on Digital Innovation" at the beginning of this year. It is concentrating its efforts on creating the world's 20th smart city.

Perhaps it is because companies have recognized the potential of Busan, there is a company that opened an IT center in Busan in June. Webcash, Korea's No. 1 B2B (business-to-business) fintech* company, has returned to Busan after 23 years of being founded as a start-up at PNU in 1999.

■ Fintech Platform that Helps Companies Grow

Webcash, which started as a start-up called "People & Community" at PNU Information and Communication Startup Support Center in 1999, introduced a virtual account service for the first time in Korea. After that, it pioneered the domestic fintech market by setting a "first in Korea" record with convenience store automatic teller machines (ATM), corporate internet banking, and open API** platform services. Webcash currently has three B2B fintech platforms (Inhouse Bank, Branch, and Kyungri Nara) as its primary products. These products connect all financial institutions in Korea and 467 financial institutions in 43 countries in real-time. Webcash, recognized for its value as Korea's No. 1 B2B Fintech company, became the first Fintech company to be listed on the KOSDAQ in 2019. Currently, Webcash has developed into a webcash group that includes KOSDAQ listed company "Coocon," which provides big data to companies, "Bizplay," which helps companies manage their expenses, and "Bizplaypay," which offers B2C (business to consumer) payments.

As the fintech industry grows, Webcash, a leader in fintech technology, is also showing rapid growth. According to a recent Webcash report, the sales and operating profit of the company in 2021 increased by 12.5% and 30.7%, respectively, compared to the previous year. Operating profit in the first quarter of this year also increased by 11% compared to the same period of the previous year, exceeding KRW 4 billion for the first time. Webcash is expanding its B2B fintech platform targeting overseas companies. Currently, it has entered China, Cambodia, and Vietnam and plans to further advance into one or two countries every year.

■ "Webcash Hires 150 People in Busan" 

The IT center in Busan includes the IT R&D research center and the “We Members Club” (platform dedicated to tax accountants) business center. This is the result of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the Webcash Group and Busan in 2019. Webcash Group will invest KRW 44 billion in the Busan IT Center to contribute to the economy of Busan-Gyeongnam and hire 150 talented people in the next five years, 30 each year, from this year to 2026. In addition, it has announced a plan to provide free money management services to social enterprises in Busan-Gyeongam.

■ Various Employee Welfare

Webcash is working hard on employee welfare and social contribution to create a company with an excellent corporate culture. Welfare systems include camping car rental, cost of health screenings support, dormitory, lease funds interest support, student loan of children of employee support, sabbatical, domestic and overseas travel support, and labor welfare fund. Kim Dong-Geun (Deputy Director, We Members Club of Webcash Group) said, "We are operating various welfare systems to help nurture the best talents and help them take a break."

WebCash established the "Korea Software Human Resources Development Center (KS-HRD Center)" in Cambodia in 2013 and invested KRW 300 million every year to train 60 software workforces. As of January, 938 people have completed the software training course at the center, and 20 of them have been working at the Busan IT Center since the beginning of this month. Webcash was selected as a global leader in social contribution and sustainability at the 2016 Korea Global Leaders Awards in recognition of its contribution to transferring IT technology to Cambodia. In Korea, Webcash continues its activities, such as helping children with leukemia and cancer, helping young single mothers, supporting the growth of artists, sponsoring the Cho Hyun-Jung Scholarship Foundation, holding the ICT thesis competition, and providing scholarships. Deputy Director Kim said, "Webcash is making efforts to contribute to society as well as various welfare of the company to have a good corporate culture."

*Fintech: computer programs and other technology used to support or enable banking and financial services.

**Open API(Open Application Programing Interface): a publicly available application programming interface that provides developers with programmatic access to a proprietary software application or web service.

Reporter Kim Min-Sung

Translated by Seo Hae-Seong