Shinhan Bank held an opening ceremony on March 30 for 'Shinhan Hakijae Gwangju', an AI and digital education centre specialised in finance, at its Gwangju Financial Center on Geumnam-ro in Buk-gu, Gwangju.

Attendees included Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Jin Ok-dong (진옥동), Shinhan Bank CEO Jeong Sang-hyeok (정상혁), Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin (이찬진), Ryu Je-myeong (류제명), second vice minister at the Ministry of Science and ICT, Kim Young-moon (김영문), vice mayor for culture and economy of Gwangju Metropolitan City, and Jeong Gwang-young (정광영), head of the Gwangju Metropolitan City federation of the Korea Senior Citizens Association.

The first part of the ceremony included a plaque unveiling and a sharing of the business vision for Shinhan Hakijae. The second part featured a special lecture on voice phishing prevention for local senior citizens.

Shinhan Hakijae is named after a phrase in the Analects, 'Is it not a pleasure to learn and, at due times, to repeat what one has learned.' It is the financial industry's first shared and inclusive education space that converts a bank's idle space into an education centre through public-private cooperation to provide tailored education to digitally underserved groups in AI and digital finance.

It runs financial education programmes tailored to various groups, including training for seniors on mobile banking and how to use kiosks, as well as basic instruction on using digital devices. It is also strengthening training to prevent livelihood-related financial crimes such as voice phishing in cooperation with the Financial Supervisory Service. It is also pursuing practical AI education linked to the 'AI Digital Learning Center' project run by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Information Society Agency (NIA).

Lee said the opening of Shinhan Hakijae Gwangju was an example of cooperation aimed at improving access to digital finance in the local community and preventing damage from financial crimes. He said he would continue to work with local governments, government ministries and the financial industry to create a safe financial environment with no financially underserved groups.

Ryu said Shinhan Hakijae was an example of public-private cooperation combining public education infrastructure with private innovative content through linkage with the government's AI Digital Learning Center project. He emphasised that it would contribute to strengthening the local community's ability to use digital tools and prevent voice phishing through AI and digital education and financial crime prevention education.

Jin said he hoped Shinhan Hakijae Gwangju would help raise residents' digital financial capabilities and protect assets from financial fraud. He said the group would strengthen cooperation with local communities and government agencies to protect financial consumers and practise inclusive finance.