Shinhan Life, Orange Life, and Shinhan Financial Investment Join Forces for 'Data New Business'

Blueprint for Securing Digital Finance Leadership

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Shin Dae-gyu, President of Shinhan Life Insurance, and Jung Moon-guk, President of Orange Life Insurance, who are preparing for integration next July, along with Lee Young-chang, President of Shinhan Financial Investment who took office in March, have joined forces to enter the data new business sector.

The data industry is gaining attention as a new growth engine in the financial sector following the enforcement of the 'Data 3 Acts (Personal Information Protection Act, Information and Communications Network Act, and Credit Information Act amendments)' in the second half of this year. These three companies have begun preliminary work to enter the data new business sector, aiming to secure a competitive edge in the digital finance field.

According to the insurance industry on the 15th, Shinhan Life Insurance, Orange Life Insurance, and Shinhan Financial Investment announced a public notice earlier this month to recruit an external consulting firm to establish a joint data new business strategy. The purpose is to conceive new business areas that can be pursued using the data each company holds.

A Shinhan Life Insurance official said, "We decided to receive consulting to prepare a strategy ahead of the selection of MyData operators scheduled for August," adding, "We are currently in the process of selecting a consulting firm."

Once the amendment to the Credit Information Act, known as the MyData Act, is enforced, companies will be able to safely utilize and sell customer personal information they hold by anonymizing or pseudonymizing it. Pseudonymization encrypts sensitive personal information such as names and resident registration numbers so that individuals cannot be identified without additional information, and then the data is combined and traded.

Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life Insurance, which are undergoing integration, are interpreted as intending to secure synergy not only in insurance but also in the data sector, and to explore new financial services by acquiring investment data from Shinhan Financial Investment as well.

In particular, the joint data new business initiative by the three companies carries the meaning of being an extension of Shinhan Financial Group's 'N.E.O (New Economy Opportunity) Project.' Through the N.E.O Project, which includes financial support for new growth industries, leading new digital finance, and creating a new growth ecosystem, Shinhan Financial plans to provide systematic support for the post-COVID-19 era.

Among these, in the new digital finance sector, the group plans to activate financial data trading based on the vast financial data it holds and strengthen financial services such as credit screening and SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) platforms by utilizing 140,000 public data sets.

Recently, Shinhan Life Insurance and Orange Life Insurance jointly launched 'HealthTalk,' a future health prediction service combining data and artificial intelligence (AI). This service compares and analyzes customer medical questionnaire results with about 5 million Korean health checkup records over 12 years, providing probability values for the occurrence of major diseases such as liver cancer, stomach cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

Additionally, the three CEOs divided their responsibilities through the Shinhan Financial Digital Guardian system in March. President Shin Dae-gyu is in charge of the healthcare sector, President Jung Moon-guk oversees the blockchain sector, and President Lee Young-chang serves as the digital guardian for the cloud sector, laying the groundwork to further expand digital business areas.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.