Editing Economy of North Korea (section)

===Banking===
{{Further|North Korean won|List of banks in North Korea}}
The [[Central Bank of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea|Central Bank of North Korea]], under the [[Ministry of Finance (North Korea)|Ministry of Finance]], has a network of 227 local branches. Several reissues of banknotes in recent years suggest that citizens are inclined to hoard rather than bank any savings that they make from their incomes; reportedly they now also prefer foreign currency. At least two foreign aid agencies{{Clarify|date=March 2008}} have recently set up microcredit schemes, lending to farmers and small businesses.{{Citation needed|date=January 2008}}

In late 2009, North Korea revalued its currency, effectively confiscating all privately held money above the equivalent of US$35 per person.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/global/02korea.html?_r=2 |author=Choe Sang-Hun |title=North Korea Revalues Its Currency |location=North Korea |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 9, 2009 |access-date=December 20, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521001602/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/business/global/02korea.html?_r=2 |archive-date=May 21, 2013 }}</ref> The revaluation effectively wiped out the savings of many North Koreans. Days after the revaluation the won dropped 96% against the United States dollar.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lim |first1=Bomi |title=North Korean Won Plunges 96% After Government Revaluation |url=https://infiniteunknown.net/2009/12/09/north-korea-won-plunges-96-percent-against-the-dollar-after-government-revaluation/ |website=Infinite Unknown |publisher=[[Bloomberg News]] |access-date=April 8, 2022 |date=December 9, 2009 |archive-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808140735/https://infiniteunknown.net/2009/12/09/north-korea-won-plunges-96-percent-against-the-dollar-after-government-revaluation/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Pak Nam-gi]], the director of the Planning and Finance Department of North Korea's ruling Workers' Party, was blamed for the disaster and later executed in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=amrsl_DDQ7.A|title=North Korea Executes Official for Currency Reform, Yonhap Says|publisher=Bloomberg|date=March 17, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:Koryo Credit Card.jpg|thumb|A Koryo cash card reader in 2012]]
In 2004 and 2006 laws were passed to codify rules for savings and commercial banking.  However it was not until 2012 that North Korean banks started to seriously compete for retail customers. Competing electronic cash cards have become widely accepted in [[Pyongyang]] and other cities, but are generally not linked to bank accounts. North Korean banks have introduced retail products which permit a mobile phone app to make payments and top-ups.<ref name=38north-20170203>{{cite news |url=http://38north.org/2017/02/aabrahamian020317/ |title=Banking on North Korea's Banks? |author=Andray Abrahamian |publisher=U.S.-Korea Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies |work=[[38 North]] |date=February 3, 2017 |access-date=February 4, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203223456/http://38north.org/2017/02/aabrahamian020317/ |archive-date=February 3, 2017 }}</ref><ref name=38north-20170406/>

As of May 2013, [[China Merchants Bank]],<ref name="NK trade">{{cite news|title=Cooling China-N Korea ties hit border town |newspaper=Financial Times |date=May 15, 2013 |author=Rabinovitch, Simon |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a631e4ee-bbc8-11e2-a4b4-00144feab7de.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141209030223/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a631e4ee-bbc8-11e2-a4b4-00144feab7de.html |archive-date=December 9, 2014 }}</ref> [[Industrial and Commercial Bank of China]], [[China Construction Bank]], and [[Agricultural Bank of China]], stopped "all cross-border cash transfers, regardless of the nature of the business" with North Korea.<ref name="China banks sactions">{{cite news | url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/9bb568b0-bba0-11e2-82df-00144feab7de.html#axzz2TIsuNx9M | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210201221/https://www.ft.com/content/9bb568b0-bba0-11e2-82df-00144feab7de#axzz2TIsuNx9M | archive-date=December 10, 2022 | url-access=subscription | url-status=live | title=China banks rein in support for North Korea | newspaper=Financial Times | date=May 13, 2013 | access-date=May 14, 2013 | author=Rabinovitch, Simon }}</ref> The [[Bank of China]], China's primary institution for foreign exchange transactions, said, on May 14, 2013, that "it had closed the account of [[Foreign Trade Bank]], North Korea's main foreign exchange bank".<ref name="China banks sactions"/><ref name="Bank of China">{{cite news | url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a7154272-b702-11e2-a249-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2TIsuNx9M | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210201235/https://www.ft.com/content/a7154272-b702-11e2-a249-00144feabdc0#axzz2TIsuNx9M | archive-date=December 10, 2022 | url-access=subscription | title=China reduces banking lifeline to N Korea | newspaper=Financial Times | date=May 7, 2013 | access-date=May 14, 2013 | author1=Simon Rabinovitch | author2=Simon Mundy | url-status=live }}</ref> However, "smaller banks based in northeastern China across the border from North Korea said it was still handling large-scale cross-border transfers." For example, the [[Bank of Dalian]] branch in Dandong was still doing transfers to North Korea.<ref name="China banks sactions"/>

[[Kim Jong Un]] from 2015 has sought to enlarge and reform the banking sector, to assist economic growth, with credit cards viewed as a way to increase money circulation. The concept of socialist commercial banks is being developed to utilize "idle funds" effectively, including the savings of individuals, to promote economic growth.<ref name=38north-20211222>{{cite web |url=https://www.38north.org/2021/12/understanding-kim-jong-uns-economic-policymaking-pyongyangs-views-on-banking/ |title=Understanding Kim Jong Un's Economic Policymaking: Pyongyang's Views on Banking |last1=Carlin |first1=Robert |last2=Lee |first2=Rachel Minyoung |publisher=The Henry L. Stimson Center |work=[[38 North]] |date=December 22, 2021 |access-date=January 3, 2022 |archive-date=January 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103212659/https://www.38north.org/2021/12/understanding-kim-jong-uns-economic-policymaking-pyongyangs-views-on-banking/ |url-status=live }}</ref>