Shinhan Financial Group said Tuesday Wi Sung-ho, CEO of Shinhan Card, has been nominated as the new CEO of Shinhan Bank.

The group’s committee for management of subsidiaries decided to recommend Wi as the sole candidate to lead the nation’s largest lender by assets, it said.

Shinhan Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shinhan Financial.

To lead the bank, Wi still needs an agreement of the bank’s executive recommendation committee at a Wednesday meeting and an approval by the bank’s general shareholders in March.

Wi and current Shinhan Bank CEO Cho Yong-byoung were the two strongest candidates for the post of Shinhan Financial Group chairman.

As Cho was named the chairman, Wi was almost certain to become new Shinhan Bank CEO, industry officials said.

Wi took office as CEO of Shinhan Card in August 2013 and has helped the firm to lead the credit card market in Korea in terms of net profits.

Shinhan Card’s net profit during the first nine months in 2016 recorded 532.6 billion won ($464.6 million), a 2.1 percent gain from a year earlier.

Wi quickly responded to the fast-changing financial industry by adopting big data and artificial intelligence in managing the credit card firm, news reports said.

(yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)