Ordering Food via Bank App... Shinhan Bank to Launch First Service in July Next Year

Financial Services Commission Designates Additional Innovative Financial Services

Reference image (Source=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Starting next year, it will be possible to order food through bank applications (apps). Additionally, insurance policyholders will be able to receive premium discounts through health grade evaluations.

The Financial Services Commission announced on the 22nd, during a regular meeting, that it designated 15 innovative financial services including these items. As a result, a total of 135 innovative financial services have been designated to date.

Accordingly, Shinhan Bank plans to launch a food ordering service through its app in July next year. The service will embed a food order brokerage platform within the app and onboard restaurants for consumers to use.

The financial authorities explained that although this service has low relevance to the bank’s core business and is difficult to recognize as an ancillary business under the Bank Act, a special exception was granted to activate specialized financial services through platform businesses.

Shinhan Bank’s service is the first case of the Financial Services Commission’s plan to expand permission for banks to enter platform businesses, announced at the 5th Digital Finance Council on the 10th.

Accordingly, the financial authorities expect consumers to enjoy various payment methods and reward benefits, and to experience a platform based on consumer preferences rather than advertising fees.

Furthermore, the authorities anticipate that the advancement of credit evaluation models based on sales data and the launch of new financial products based on sales data will also be possible.

When insurance policyholders request a health grade evaluation to receive a discount on existing contract premiums, the health grade will be assessed and if certain criteria are met, the premium will be discounted. This service will be launched by Grade Health Chain in September next year.

The financial authorities granted a special exception to allow premium discounts on already concluded contracts. Under the current Insurance Business Act, insurers are prohibited from offering premium discounts to policyholders without reasons specified in the basic documents.

The authorities expect that through this attempt, insurers’ loss ratios will improve, creating a virtuous cycle where the benefits return to consumers. They also foresee active launches of various health promotion-type insurance products that combine healthcare services and the insurance industry in the future.

KakaoBank, Toss Securities, and Toss Innovation Preparation Corporation will introduce services next year that simplify real-name verification procedures using facial recognition technology, which compares photos of official identification documents with customer-taken facial photos during non-face-to-face financial transactions or issuance of access media.

Coinplug will launch in April next year a service that issues and stores digital real-name verification certificates on the blockchain-based mobile identity verification app "MYKEEPiN," allowing users to simplify real-name verification procedures by presenting the digital certificate.

Corporate Insurance Enrollment with Employee Authentication Only
Credit Card Monthly Rent Payment Service Also Available

DB Insurance will launch a service in June next year that allows corporations or individual business owners to easily enroll in corporate insurance by authenticating only their employees. Kyobo Life Insurance will launch in March next year a group insurance service that covers death, injury, and illness of workers with a maturity of five years or less, even for small businesses with fewer than five employees.

Hana Life, Kyobo Life, and Coupfi Maps are preparing services that allow consumers to purchase or gift "insurance mobile gift certificates (coupons)" on online shopping platforms to enroll in insurance or use them for premium payments. These services are expected to be launched in the first half of next year.

Samsung Card, Woori Card, and Hyundai Card will introduce a service in the second half of next year that allows tenants to pay monthly rent to landlords by credit card according to real estate lease contracts.

Shinhan Card will launch a service in August next year that allows credit card companies to pay small merchants with annual sales under 300 million KRW their card sales proceeds in points instead of cash on the next business day after the payment date, without deducting merchant fees, so that the merchants can use the points when using their own credit or check cards.

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