(코리아타운뉴스) Korean Banks’ Battle on Wilshire Boulevard

All seven Korean banks have a branch location on Wilshire
Banks on Wilshire receive bigger deposits and loans

Banks on Wilshire receive bigger deposits and loans than other locations
The part of Wilshire Boulevard cutting across Los Angeles Koreatown has become something of a battleground for Korean-American banks.

Even US Metro Bank, headquartered in Orange County, is set to open its Wilshere location on April 3. That would mark the beginning of an era in which all seven Korean-American banks are operating at least one branch on Wilshere Boulevard.

Bank of Hope has four separate locations across Wilshere Boulevard—Vermont, City Center, Harvard and Manhattan Place. The six other banks are currently operating one location on Wilshere Boulevard, respectively.

Across seven blocks on Wilshere Boulevard between Alexandria and Serrano, all seven Korean-American banks are congested in the area.

The primary reason behind all seven banks’ preference to run a business on Wilshire business is because it is an area that serves as the focal point of Koreatown’s economy. Many of the neighborhood’s biggest local businesses are headquartered on the street, which has led to the movement by banks to set up their branches in the nearby area. Many industry experts agree that a location on Wilshere secures revenue, symbolization of the business and advertisement effects.

It is believed that the total sum of deposited funds at each of the Wilshire-based banks range from $500 million to $1 billion. That is also one of the reasons why the banks have been placing their best pool of talents to take charge of their Wilshire branches.

“Wilshire Boulevard is the central part of Koreatown’s economy,” said Open Bank president Min Kim. “We’ve got a lot of existing and new customers visiting our branches there. It’s definitely an important area to enter to attract more customers.”

US Metro Bank president Dong-il Kim added: “There are many tall buildings on Wilshere. The advertisement effect of having a branch there is huge.”
It is believed that more than 90,000 cars pass by on Wilshere Boulevard on a daily basis.


By Sungcheol Jin