On March 16th, SK Telecom announced that the company is introducing the M-Bank International Roaming Service in a joint effort with Woori Bank. This service allows customers to enjoy mobile banking service through a wireless Internet service, M Bank terminal and IC, while they are staying in overseas countries. Customers can make inquiries about their checks, bank account balances, and banking transaction history etc., as well as transmit money to other banks or financial institutions.

SK Telecom plans to launch the service in Beijing and Shanghai China first, and then expand the service throughout China, by the end of March. In addition, the company will introduce the service in New Zealand in April, and continue to expand the service area to Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, in the near future.

With respect to data service rates, rates that differ from the domestic data service rate will be charged in accordance with the service contracts with overseas service providers. However, the rate will not vary greatly from the domestic service rate. For instance, when customers use the bank account inquiry service and money transfer service at the same time in Korea, the service rate is 65 won per one time use. If the customer uses the same service under the roaming environment in China, the service rate will be 70 won per one time use.

When the system installation and testing are completed, the M-Bank International Roaming Service will be opened through joint efforts with Shinhan Bank and Chohung Bank, as well as Woori Bank. SK Telecom’s M-Bank Service was first launched on March 2. It lets customers use a variety of banking services with a single IC (Integrated Chip) developed in joint efforts with Shinhan Bank, Chohung Bank, and Woori Bank.