Choi Gitae exclaimed while watching the news, “Wow, that’s impressive.”
Choi Gichul remained silent as he watched it as well.
“It would’ve been difficult to get into the financial industry because of the Separation of Banking and Commerce Act. Maybe different law applies to IT companies, but would the government approve it? Do you know anything about it?”
“No.”
“Our company wanted to get into this business too, but the most we were allowed were insurance and hedge fund businesses. However, it sounds like they are going to be launching Coconut Bank…But the law will allow Coconut Company to have only a 10% share of the Coconut Bank…”
Choi Gitae couldn’t understand the situation.
Choi Gichul added. “And the company probably could only own 4% of the voting rights. Even if they could gather generous and supportive investors, building their own bank wouldn’t be easy.”
“They wouldn’t be able to do it without active support from the government. I guess the president probably likes the idea of reducing the credit card fee for the public. His approval rating would go up with this.”
“I guess so.”
“He must be very smart. How would he convince the government though?”
“I heard he hangs out with Lee Sunghyun.”
“The President’s second son?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you think of that?”
Choi Gichul remained quiet to Choi Gitae’s criticism.
Choi Gitae continued in frustration, “And he is also getting into the mobile carrier business.”
“That is correct.”
“He is trying to grow too fast. Maybe he is just a greedy idiot.”
Choi Gichul nodded slightly in agreement. “I heard he is part of KYLO. Did you hear anything about him?”
“I don’t attend regularly, so no.”
“Then you should attend more from now on, and you need to do everything you can to bring down Choi Taemin.”
Choi Gichul nodded slightly again.
Choi Gitae laughed, “You and I are of the same blood. We need to make Choi Taemin disappear so we can survive.” Choi Gichul was sick of hearing this. Choi Gitae continued, “Oh, too bad about Yoo Sona. I liked her.”
“…”
“Do you know any other good girls?”
“I don’t really know much about things like that.”
Choi Gitae sighed deeply, “Gosh, just what do you know then? It seems like you know nothing. Do you even have a brain?”
Choi Gichul knew that when Choi Gitae became moody like this, there was only one thing he could say.
“I’m sorry.”
“Let’s be better, okay? How can I trust you with anything if you’re like this?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I am so sick of your ‘I’m sorry.’ Anyway, how’s the electronics department doing?”
“Same as last year.”
“Diregie will be coming to us for cooperation. That company developing a new smartphone. Make sure to delay responding to them as long as possible. I realize it will be hard, but you must.”
“Alright, but they may not listen. I think they are Choi Taemin’s people.”
Choi Taemin screamed at Choi Gichul angrily, “Why can’t you just do it right? JUST DO IT!”
Choi Gichul remained silent and motionless. It was best to look as invisible as possible.
“Just do better. We are almost there.”
Choi Gitae looked crazy as his eyes shined. Choi Gichul looked scared as he stared at his brother.
***
The building next to KND headquarters.
It was the Coconut Talk’s main office. A press conference was held here to release the official news regarding the credit card fee reduction plan.
“So how will this happen exactly?”
“Did you get fair agreements with all of the existing credit card companies?”
“Is it true that the drop could be significant?”
Reporters raised their hands for questions.
“We could do it by improving our technology.”
“We didn’t require any agreements because Coconut will not be using the existing transaction system.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Even after Woosung answered numerous questions, the reporters didn’t stop.
“How can you accomplish your plan without using the current transaction system?”
Woosung took out his Blue S2. “You can use this. Install Coconut Pay app on your phone and pay for anything you want. I will show it to you.”
Woosung’s staffs performed a test for the reporters. The first thing they showed was making a transaction using the existing VAN system.
“As you can see, you register the card on your Blue S2 and scanned it on any POS machine. You can register as many cards as you want on the phone, but if you use the VAN, we won’t be able to provide such a significant reduction.”
“So in this case, the only advantage would be having all the cards in one phone.”
“That’s right. Now, let’s see the second scenario.”
The staffs showed a transaction using Coconut Pay and a POS machine.
“If you use this system, your fee will be halved.”
“Is it true that the reduced fee will be given back to you in a form of reward points?”
“Yes. So 1% of your purchase will be returned to you in a form of S Coin. You can use these coins at the S Mall. You can also purchase the KND’s premium phone with them. Now, this is the third thing I want to show you.”
The staffs opened an app on the phone and entered the 6-digit password.
Beep.
With an alarm, a popup came up.
“Transfer completed.”
Woosung explained to the reporters.
“Do you see this? I was able to transfer money with a single click.”
Innovation.
“America’s PayPal has the ability to transfer money and make online purchases with a single input of your password. It is such a convenient system, yet what about Korea? We need so many security steps and certifications to make any online transactions. Even then, things don’t always happen smoothly.” Woosung took a deep breath and continued, “Fail, fail, and fail. Often times, we are asked to re-install the security program. We get failed transaction messages all the time. We need to install a different version of browsers frequently. It’s so crazy and frustrating.”
Woosung looked around.
“But the Coconut Pay system is different. After the registration, you just need to enter the 6-digit password to make any transactions or transfers. You never have to bring out your card.”
This was routinely used in 2018, but not currently.
Woosung brought future technology to 2010.
“When you use this system, your fee will be reduced by at least 50%.”
One of the reporters raised her hand and asked, “But if we get the reduced fee by coins and the coins can’t be exchanged for actual money, wouldn’t this plan be worthless?”
“A dealership called Bitmain will be opened soon. If anyone wants to exchange the coins for money, it will be possible here with a minimum balance of 5 dollars.”
“Wouldn’t there be security risks with this system?”
“This approach has been approved by the American federal agencies. I don’t think you have to worry about security.”
While Woosung took a sip of water, another reporter asked, “Is it true that Coconut is also creating its own bank?”
“If it can increase the customers’ benefits, then yes.”
“Could you be more specific?”
“For example, we are trying to achieve the elimination of fees involved during transfers and ATM withdrawals. In our company, our IT and financial experts are working very hard for this project. The current banks get enriched by abusing their customers. I will make sure to destroy these existing rules that take advantages of the people.”
Another reporter raised his hand. “We also heard you are getting into the mobile carrier business. Is that true?”
“This is a press conference just for the financial business news. I think we took up too much time so far. Let’s end it for now.”
Woosung stepped down from the stage.
Immediately, the online and offline news were plastered with Woosung’s name and his launch of Coconut Bank.
