Banks are gearing up their efforts to retain their conventional customers and stop them from moving their accounts to other banks ― a provisionary measure to the incoming bank account switching system.

Starting from October, customers will be able to move their accounts more freely from one bank to another, without having to adjust their automatic withdrawals. The system was introduced by the Financial Services Commission back in 2013 as a means to enhance the competitiveness of the banking industry.

KB Kookmin Bank said it will launch a package account product within July, expanding the range of banking fee exemptions for regular clients. The bank is currently the nation’s no. 1 in the number of clients, with 29.2 million registered as of the end of last year.

Hana Bank has established an exclusive task force, aiming to revise its banking fees and mileage system in August, according to officials.

“In addition to an incoming package product, we also plan to introduce a new mileage system that will be available at all Hana Financial Group affiliates,” an official said.

The bank is scheduled to merge with Korea Exchange Bank by September and start anew as the nation’s largest bank in assets, as well as in the number of overseas branches. The regulator FSC gave its preliminary approval of the merger earlier this week.

Shinhan Bank, the current top-ranking bank in assets and profits, has launched a special account package this month, adding a prime interest rate of 1.3 percent to the key 1.5 percent.

Such efforts by the banks reflect the sense of crisis that a large-scale customer exodus may happen, should they fail to differentiate themselves from their rivals.

As of the end of May, the total balance of deposit accounts in domestic banks stood at 450.7 billion ($386 billion), among which an estimated 230 trillion won will be subject to free account switching.

Also, a report by the Hana Institute of Finance showed that 51.2 percent of respondents said that they have changed their main transaction bank over the past three years or would have done so, if not for the inconvenience.

But due to the lower level of interest rates, it may not be sufficient for banks to offer benefits such as banking fee discounts or prime interest rates, the report added, suggesting that banks should classify their customer clusters more specifically to meet their individual demands.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)