Starbucks Korea said Wednesday it has partnered with the country's leading retail lender KB Kookmin Bank to introduce account-based settlement services for its customers in the first quarter of next year. Customers who have bank accounts linked to KB Kookmin Bank's open banking settlement system will be able to make payments with deposits in their accounts at Starbucks outlets, the company said in a statement. To make their account-based settlements, customers are also required to register their account number with the Starbucks mobile application, it said. The Seattle coffee giant introduced its first store in front of Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 1999 in partnership with Shinsegae Group, a Korean retail group. Starbucks mostly focused on the Seoul metropolitan area in the early stage and expanded its business territory across the nation to cater to growing appetite for its coffee. It currently operates 1,937 outlets across the country. Shinsegae Group holds a 67.5 percent stake in the coffee cha in here and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC) owns the remaining 32.5 percent stake. Source: Yonhap News Agency