Shinhan Financial Group

Universal bank · Seoul, South Korea

Shinhan Financial Group is one of South Korea's big five financial groups, built around Shinhan Bank and 17 direct subsidiaries in cards, securities, insurance and asset management. It reported record net profit of 4.97 trillion won for 2025, up 11.7 percent, and a group CET1 ratio of 13.33 percent. In 2025 it became the first Korean financial group to earn more than 1 trillion won of overseas pre-tax profit, with ten overseas units led by Vietnam, where it opened a new headquarters in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024. Shinhan Bank is a shareholder of the Korea Digital Asset Custody venture. In June 2026 the Financial Supervisory Service set penalties of about 600 billion won on Shinhan Bank and four other banks over mis-selling of Hong Kong index equity-linked securities, down from an initial 1.2 trillion won.

Legal name: Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd.
Regulated by: Financial Services Commission (Korea), Financial Supervisory Service (Korea), Bank of Korea, State Bank of Vietnam (Shinhan Bank Vietnam), Federal Reserve and NYDFS (Shinhan Bank America)
Licence confirmed: yes, on a regulator's own list
Established: 2001
Website: www.shinhangroup.com

Scores, 0 to 10

8.5Financial strength & stability

Aa3/A+/A bank ratings with CET1 13.33 percent and record 2025 profit. · source

7.0Asia-Pacific (SG, HK, AU, JP, KR)

One of Korea's largest banks with a China subsidiary and Japanese and Southeast Asian operations. · source

6.5Trade, manufacturing & import-export

Trade finance for Korean exporters with ten overseas units including Vietnam and the US. · source

6.0Cross-border payments, FX and multi-currency accounts

SWIFT and won clearing with ten overseas units; FX margins not published. Domestic cash management plus ten overseas units; the group's overseas pre-tax profit passed 1 trillion won in 2025. · source

5.5Latin America, Africa & South Asia

Shinhan Bank Vietnam with a new Ho Chi Minh City headquarters opened August 2024 leads ten overseas units. · source

5.5Fintech companies that need a partner bank

Invested in KDAC custody and works with Korean exchanges under real-name account rules. · source

5.5Business cards (Visa, Mastercard)

Shinhan Card, the group card company, issues CORPORATE cards including Untact+ and Business Trip versions plus SOHO cards for sole traders; the bank publishes no English business card page and no zero-FX card. · source

5.0Crypto-friendly bank

Shareholder of the KDAC crypto custodian; no stated policy for onboarding exchanges beyond Korean real-name rules. · source

5.0Lowest fees

No English-language business fee schedule is published by Shinhan Bank. · source

5.0On-ramp: buy crypto with fiat

Shinhan Bank has been the real-name account bank for the Korbit exchange since 2018 and renewed in December 2025, so its customers can fund Korbit, but Korean rules still keep most companies out of exchange trading and Korbit is a small venue. · source

4.5Best interest on business balances

Korean corporate deposits pay published won rates; no treasury sweep product is listed in English. · source

4.5Online businesses: e-commerce and SaaS

Domestic merchant settlement through Shinhan Card; no cross-border collection accounts. A Korean entity is required, the bank publishes no English API, Stripe or accounting integration and there is no USD receiving account for a software company based elsewhere. · source

4.5Startups & VC-backed companies

Startups are served as SMEs through branch onboarding. · source

4.5Off-ramp: crypto to fiat in a business account

Korbit withdrawals in won settle to Shinhan real-name accounts, but corporate access is limited to the small groups Korean rules allow, and no Shinhan process for company crypto proceeds is published, checked September 2026. · source

4.0Fast digital onboarding

Corporate accounts are opened at Shinhan Bank branches; no online path for foreign companies is listed in English. · source

4.0Customer satisfaction

No reviewed Trustpilot profile; the Financial Supervisory Service set penalties in June 2026 for mis-selling Hong Kong index equity-linked securities. · source

3.5United States

Shinhan Bank America earned 18.4 billion won in 2025 serving Korean-linked businesses; no mainstream US SME franchise. · source

3.5Foreign-owned & non-resident companies

A foreign company must first register a Korean company or branch with the court and tax office; an attorney can file under power of attorney but the branch may still require the representative director in person, and foreign ownership triggers enhanced due diligence. Shinhan is named by local advisers as the easiest of the big banks for foreign-owned companies. · source

3.0Crypto wallet and custody for a business

Shinhan Bank is a shareholder of custodian KDAC, which launched corporate custody services including KDAC-L for listed companies in January 2026, but Shinhan itself holds no crypto for clients and KDAC is a partly owned partner, not a group subsidiary. · source

2.0High-risk verticals (iGaming, cannabis, adult, forex)

Korea's Criminal Act Article 246 penalises gambling and Article 247 punishes running a gambling facility with up to five years in prison, only Kangwon Land admits Korean nationals and online gambling is treated the same, so gambling operators cannot be banked. · source

2.0Stablecoins (USDC, USDT and others)

Shinhan Financial signed with Visa on 26 August 2026 to use Visa's platform to test bank-issued stablecoin issuance, remittance and redemption, but nothing is live for business clients. · source

1.0Accept crypto payments

Shinhan offers no crypto acceptance to merchants; its August 2026 agreement with Visa covers testing stablecoin issuance, remittance and redemption, not checkout, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Bitcoin

Shinhan offers no bitcoin buying, holding or custody to clients; its crypto links are the Korbit account deal and the KDAC stake, checked September 2026. · source

1.0Ethereum

Shinhan offers no ether buying, holding or staking to clients, checked September 2026. · source

Sources

Built on public information and the BankStore team's own aggregated experience; no confidential client or partner data. Bank Index and BankStore are not banks. This is information, not financial advice.