Shinhan Bank succeeded in retaining the primary treasury bank role in Incheon in a market worth about 17 trillion won. It held on to the top position it has kept since 2007 by fending off a strong challenge from Hana Bank, which moved its group headquarters to Cheongna International City and sharply expanded local financial support and social contribution.

Incheon said on Sept. 17 it held a treasury designation review committee meeting and selected Shinhan Bank as the designated financial institution to serve as the primary treasury bank for four years from 2027 to 2030. NH NongHyup Bank, the sole applicant, was selected as the secondary treasury bank. The city plans to sign the next city treasury agreement in October.

The primary treasury bank manages the general account, special public enterprise accounts and funds. Based on the 2026 main budget, its size is 14.45 trillion won. Including the secondary treasury bank, which handles other special accounts worth 2.02 trillion won, the total city treasury is about 16.5 trillion won.

Shinhan Bank has served as Incheon’s primary treasury bank since 2007. With this selection, it will retain the status through 2030 for a total of 24 years. In the 2022 review, Shinhan Bank scored 1,156.29 points, ahead of Hana Bank’s 1,085.26.

◆ Shinhan holds 20-year stronghold despite all-out "Cheongna Hana" push

The competition drew attention on whether Shinhan Bank could hold on as Hana Bank put more weight than ever on the Incheon region.

Hana Financial Group moved its group headquarters to Cheongna International City this month and is deploying about 2,200 employees from 10 affiliates, including Hana Financial Group and Hana Bank, in stages. Including existing staff based in Cheongna, the number of finance and IT personnel stationed in Incheon reaches about 4,000. Hana Bank CEO Ho-sung Lee (이호성) was reported to have personally served as the presenter for the final evaluation PT.

It also aggressively expanded local financial support. Hana Bank made a special contribution of a total of 6 billion won to the Incheon Credit Guarantee Foundation this year, raising the supply of Incheon-region agreement guarantees to 91.5 billion won. It expanded eligibility to include small business owners with mid to low credit and also launched a 10 billion won "Incheon Sharing Account". The group also expanded a series of locally focused activities, including corporate finance, financial benefits for residents and support for university students.

Shinhan Bank highlighted its accumulated treasury operations experience from managing Incheon city funds for a long time and the stability of its existing IT infrastructure as strengths. It also presented as a key achievement its experience in converting administrative and tax systems, including those needed for local tax collection, to fit the new structure during the reorganisation of Incheon’s administrative system in July this year from 2 counties and 8 districts to 2 counties and 9 districts.

It also stressed the achievements it has built up in contributing to the local community. Through its startup incubation platform "Shinhan Square Bridge Incheon", it supported 352 companies through last year. Jobs maintained or newly created through those companies totalled 6,393, and investment attracted reached 429.8 billion won. It also continued projects linked to Incheon city policies, including connecting the Incheon e-eum payment function to the public delivery app "Ttaenggyeoyo".

◆ Evaluation criteria changed, but Shinhan tops scores; holds Incheon after Seoul

The city treasury competition also drew attention because the evaluation criteria had greater discriminatory power than four years earlier.

Incheon revised relevant ordinances and adjusted the evaluation method so score gaps between financial institutions could widen more than before in some categories, including lending and deposit interest rates and contributions to the local community. For Hana Bank, which strengthened community contribution and interest-rate competitiveness, that meant more room to narrow the gap than four years earlier.

The evaluation totalled 100 points: 25 points for a financial institution’s credit rating and stability of financial structure, 18 points for lending and deposit interest rates to the city, 24 points for convenience for residents, 24 points for treasury operations management capability, 7 points for community contribution and city cooperation projects, and 2 points for other factors. The treasury designation review committee, comprising 11 participants including private-sector experts and city councillors, reviewed 20 detailed items across six fields.

Incheon said Shinhan Bank received the highest score in the primary treasury bank evaluation. However, total scores and item-by-item scores by bank were not disclosed. As Hana Bank sharply strengthened local contribution, it appears it will be possible to confirm how much difference Shinhan Bank’s long-accumulated treasury operation experience, convenience for residents and treasury management capability made in the evaluation only after detailed results are released.

Shinhan Bank earlier retained both the first and second treasury bank roles in Seoul’s city treasury competition. Seoul held a treasury designation review committee meeting in May and selected Shinhan Bank as the preferred designated candidate for both the first and second treasury banks. In the first treasury bank competition between Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank ranked first with 973.904 points, and it also received the highest score of 925.760 points in the second treasury bank competition involving Shinhan, Woori, KB Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank.

As a result, Shinhan Bank will continue handling city treasury operations for both Seoul and Incheon simultaneously from 2027 to 2030. By retaining its existing treasury role in Incheon as well as in Seoul, it will maintain its position in the market for treasury mandates of large metropolitan local governments in the Seoul metropolitan area.

A Shinhan Bank official said, "Shinhan Bank will strive to further enhance residents’ financial convenience based on the stable treasury operation experience it has built up and top-level financial capabilities." The official added, "We will do our best to continuously contribute to the growth and development of the local economy."