Samsung, 4 Korean banks to foster financial software engineers

Samsung Electronics Co. and South Korea’s four commercial banks – Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana and Woori – have agreed to help support young software development engineers in the financial sector as part of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.

Under the program, the four banks will establish a 2 billion won ($1.5 million) fund, with each bank contributing 500 million won, and donate it to the Samsung Software Academy For Youth (SSAFY) through the Children and Future Foundation, a non-governmental organization.

Samsung and the banks on Monday signed an agreement to jointly enhance youth employment competitiveness and nurture digital talent.

Chief executives from the four banks – Shinhan’s Jung Sang-hyuk, KB Kookmin’s Lee Jae-keun, Hana’s Lee Seung-yeul and Woori’s Lee Won-Duk – and Samsung’s corporate management office head and President Park Hark-kyu participated in the signing ceremony.

“We will foster talent who will lead the digital transformation of the financial sector through cooperation with Samsung,” said Hana Bank CEO Lee.

TO EXPAND CSR PROGRAMS

In the second half of this year, SSAFY will open a training course in which financial software experts from the four banks will provide lectures, for free, on fintech-related software development.

Samsung, the world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones, kicked off the one-year education program in December 2018 to nurture financial software talent.

Students chosen from a screening process will receive a monthly stipend of 1 million won.

More than 4,000 students have completed the education program since its launch and over 1,000 have found employment at domestic and international companies, according to Samsung. There are 725 SSAFY graduates employed in the financial sector.

“Samsung will continue investing in talent cultivation to strengthen the domestic SW ecosystem,” said Samsung’s Park.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.