Anchor: Moving banks can often be a headache as various automatic withdrawals must also be migrated. A new Web site in South Korea aims to make the transition smoother and could stir up fierce competition in the nation’s 800-trillion won banking industry.
Our Park Jong-hong has this report.
 
Report: A new system has been put in place in South Korea that makes it easier to move automatic withdrawals set up with one bank account to another.
 
Starting from Friday, account holders can easily change their primary bank account from one institution to another on the Web site "payinfo.or.kr".
 
Shinhan, Kookmin and 14 other banks are participating in the program, under which switching to a new bank is less complicated for customers who have been reluctant to give up automatic payments set up with existing accounts.
 
The idea behind facilitating the shift was to nurture competitiveness in the financial sector.
 
Industry experts have predicted that competition will become fierce in the nation's 800-trillion won, or 700-billion dollar, banking sector.
 
Commercial banks in South Korea are already launching handsome package deals to attract new clients as a total of two-point-six billion existing bank accounts are now in the market.
 
From February of next year, switching will become even easier as customers will be able to move accounts through bank branches and banking Web sites. 
 
The "payinfo" Web site went offline for about half an hour on Friday morning as tens of thousands logged on to make a switch.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.