Major commercial banks in South Korea are accelerating efforts to expand services for high-net-worth individuals as regulations on household loans continue to tighten.

They are opening private banking (PB) centers dedicated to super-rich clients and expanding their wealth management (WM) businesses, with the strategy of making them key drivers of profitability in 2025 alongside corporate finance.

Woori Bank announced on Sunday that it will open the Two Chairs W Songdo branch in Incheon on Wednesday.

Two Chairs W is Woori Bank’s PB center brand targeting high-net-worth individuals with deposit balances of at least 1 billion won ($726,878).

At these centers, PB branch managers provide one-on-one consultations and comprehensive wealth management services, covering finance, taxation, real estate, inheritance, and gift planning.

This is the first in Incheon, a city bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, while branches have opened in areas such as Cheongdam, Dogok, and Yeouido in Seoul - part of a strategy for the bank to expand its outreach to wealthy individuals in new regions.

Hana Bank will upgrade its Dogok PB Center in southern Seoul to a Club 1 branch by the end of July.

Previously serving clients with deposit balances of 500 million won or more, the upgraded center will now cater exclusively to clients with at least 3 billion won in deposits.

Hana Bank categorizes wealthy clients based on deposits: 500 million won and over 3 billion won, and intends to intensify focus on the latter ultra-wealthy segment.

The bank is also exploring additional openings in affluent areas such as Seocho and Banpo in southern Seoul, where there is demand for PB services among high-net-worth individuals.

Shinhan Bank is alsonremodeling its Shinhan Premier Family Office Cheongdam Center in southern Seoul, which opened in May 2025 and serves clients with deposit balances of at least 10 billion won.

It is Shinhan’s first standalone PB building, complete with a fine-dining restaurant and an art gallery for clients.

Located near Apgujeong Rodeo Station, it is just a 10-minute walk from KB Kookmin Bank’s Gold & Wise The First Apgujeong Center, which is widely regarded as Korea’s most luxurious PB branch - setting up a direct competition between the country’s top two banks to win over high-net-worth clientele.

KB Kookmin Bank, meanwhile, plans to focus on senior wealthy clients.

The bank will expand its KB Golden Life Centers - consulting hubs dedicated to senior clients - from five to twelve locations by September.

These centers offer guidance on retirement planning, post-retirement lifestyle design, and wealth transfer strategies.

NH Nonghyup Bank is also expanding its WM-specialized branches to 100 nationwide by the end of the year.

The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) has launched a program to nurture future WM professionals.

The latest push to strengthen PB centers across major banks reflects their strategy to boost non-interest income.

Under the government’s household loan management plan announced on June 27, 2025 - which capped mortgage loans for metropolitan properties at 600 million won - banks are now expected to reduce their second-half household lending by roughly half of their original targets.

From the banks‘ perspective, it is imperative to develop alternative revenue streams to maintain or exceed their profits in 2024.

The five major banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup) saw their household loan balances increase by a daily average of 89.1 billion won in the first 10 days of July 2025, which is 40 percent of the level in June at 225.1 billion won.

The total deposit balance at PB centers for clients with over 3 billion won at the four leading banks rose from 67 trillion won at the end of 2024 to 68.33 trillion won in the first half of 2025 - an increase of over 1.3 trillion won.

Given the annual growth range of 3 to 4 trillion won over the past three years, it is highly likely that this figure will surpass 70 trillion won by year-end.

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