NH NongHyup Bank will pursue direct investment in AI companies in line with the government’s policies on productive finance and a major AI transformation in the agricultural sector.

NongHyup Bank announced on the 28th that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on business cooperation with AgileSoDA. The decision is based on the judgment that strategic direct investment in AI companies is necessary to apply AI technology across financial services and to preemptively secure future core capabilities.

Since the second half of last year, NongHyup Bank has formed a dedicated task force (TF) to assess its internal capabilities and review response measures to strengthen AI competitiveness.

In particular, the bank concluded that strategic direct investment in AI companies is needed to integrate AI technology across financial services and to secure future core capabilities in advance. To this end, it reviewed a pool of candidate AI technology firms in various fields and ultimately selected AgileSoDA, which has competitiveness in implementing an agentic AI platform, AI agent development, finance-specialized AI, and data analytics.

NongHyup Bank plans to grow into an agentic AI bank by 2027 by directly investing in AgileSoDA and thereby securing AI competitiveness at an early stage. The bank expects this to become a representative example of productive finance, with the bank serving as a provider of direct capital to cutting-edge innovative companies and supporting their stable growth and long-term development.

NongHyup Bank plans to complete the investment contract and regulatory filing procedures with the financial authorities by June and to fully launch an AI agent development project starting in July.

Kang Tae-young, President of NH NongHyup Bank, said, “Outstanding AI professionals are more important than anything else for AX transformation,” adding, “Through this direct investment in an AI company, we will accelerate our leap toward becoming an agentic AI bank where AI is part of the daily lives of customers and employees.”

Meanwhile, NongHyup Financial Group has established a group-wide TF to promote productive finance, bringing together the capabilities of its affiliates, including NongHyup Bank. Through the TF, it plans to implement initiatives such as participation in the National Growth Fund, expanded investment and lending for advanced strategic industries, and inclusive finance for small business owners, self-employed workers, and financially underprivileged groups.

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