Woori Bank CEO Jung Jin-wan (정진완) declared that he will quickly narrow the gap with rival banks this year and lead a “second leap.”

Woori Bank said on Jan. 25 it held its 2026 management strategy meeting on Jan. 23 at Paradise City in Incheon, attended by about 900 people including Jung, executives, division heads and branch managers.

Under the 2026 management goal of “growth with customers, a leap for the future,” participants shared four strategic directions: expanding customers, strengthening earnings, future growth and responsible management. They also pledged to boost on-site communication and organisational execution to prove clear results this year.

At the event, the award for the second-half 2025 KPI went to Kil Joon-hyung (길준형), head of the Teheran-ro Financial Center in the retail sales division, and Kwon Yong-gyu (권용규), head of a corporate branch at the Gangnam Corporate Sales Headquarters in the corporate sales division.

In a CEO message, Jung called for strengthening customer touchpoints and making operations more sophisticated this year through “changes in sales methods,” based on last year’s results in improving the bank’s fundamentals.

Woori Bank will push to advance specialised channels in corporate and wealth management. It plans to raise the expertise of its corporate-focused channels, the BIZ Prime Center and the BIZ Advisor Center, to attract quality companies and expand the scope of transactions within productive financial flows. It also plans to further expand its base of high-net-worth clients centred on the TWO CHAIRS W wealth management channel.

It will also raise work speed and accuracy through AI-based processing efficiency. The bank plans to redesign work processes across five key areas using AI agents. It also plans to strengthen its on-site sales support system by innovating non-face-to-face consultations and customer management processes for maturity of deposit and loan products. It will also run a pilot for specialised consultation centres centred on key hubs, reflecting demand from office workers and small business owners.

Woori Bank sees the starting point for achieving results as the “customer.” It plans to significantly strengthen lifestyle convenience services to create customer touchpoints and cement Woori Bank as “a bank that is with you in everyday life.” This year it plans to move ahead in earnest with a tentatively named “super account” concept that consolidates customer benefits to offer a differentiated experience.

It will also push to advance its CDP, or career development path, to raise staff expertise to strengthen tailored financial solutions. In addition to existing RM and PB roles, it will set four key roles including succession planning for family businesses and asset consulting focused on mass affluent clients, and build a structure to develop experts.

“There must be customers for transactions to happen, and transactions must accumulate for profits to be created,” Jung said. “Expanding the customer base must lead to a tangible strengthening of profitability.” He also signalled a commitment to apply a zero-tolerance principle to acts that violate principles such as internal controls and information protection.

Jung said, “If 2025 was a time to build the foundation and strengthen our stamina, 2026 is a year that must be proven with results.” He said that if direction is clear and changes on the ground move together, the gap with rival banks will certainly narrow and the market landscape can also be changed.