Shinhan Bank Launches 'New Sol' App... Intensifying Super App Competition in Financial Sector

Unpack Ceremony Held on the Morning of the 20th
Showcasing Various Features Including Personalized Home Screen and New Transfer Options

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] Shinhan Bank has launched a prelude to achieving 10 million monthly active users (MAU) by completely revamping its banking application for the first time in four years. Major domestic commercial banks are successively upgrading their banking apps, signaling the start of full-scale digital competition with big tech companies.

On the morning of the 20th, Shinhan Bank held an Unpack Ceremony at its headquarters auditorium in Jung-gu, Seoul, unveiling the banking application 'Shinhan New SOL.' This is the first full-scale overhaul of Shinhan Bank’s banking app since the launch of Shinhan SOL in 2018, about four years ago.

The event was attended by Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Cho Yong-byeong, Shinhan Bank President Jin Ok-dong, other Shinhan Financial executives, and a customer advisory group involved in the app development project. President Jin also delivered a keynote speech related to the development philosophy of the New SOL app.

The New SOL app offers up to four times faster speed compared to the previous app and includes new services such as 'My Home Screen,' which allows customers to customize their home screen with desired menus; 'New Transfer,' enabling transfers by registering recipients as friends or groups instead of accounts; and 'Story Bank,' which lets users record and share transaction histories with stories. Additionally, it provides various services such as the 'Self-Closing Chatbot,' which assists with over 30 financial tasks using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, and 'Easy Mode,' featuring large font sizes for easier use by senior customers.

Shinhan Bank’s decision to fully revamp the app after four years is aimed at establishing a foothold in the digital financial market, which is increasingly digitalized and contactless. According to Mobile Index, a big data analytics solution provider, as of the end of last month, Shinhan SOL’s MAU stood at 9,364,432, nearing the 10 million mark. It leads over Woori Bank’s WON Banking (6,661,159) and Hana Bank’s Hana1Q (5,269,926), but there is still some gap compared to big tech Kakao Bank (12,922,361) and main competitor KB Kookmin Bank’s Star Finance (11,257,621).

Shinhan Bank put considerable effort into the New SOL app revamp. It recruited a large-scale customer advisory group of 10,000 people who directly participated in the planning and development process of the new app project over about a year. The popular group 'NewJeans' was also engaged as promotional models.

Other commercial banks are also pursuing MAU expansion through full app overhauls. KB Kookmin Bank’s Star Banking app has surpassed 10 million MAU since its full revamp in October last year and is actively working on creating a super app by recently adding 72 new features. NH Nonghyup Bank also fully revamped its 'NH All One Bank' app in June.

A Shinhan Bank official said, "We hope that the New SOL, reborn from genuine customer-centricity, will mark the beginning of an app not provided to customers but created by customers. The Unpack event was planned with the intention of revealing the New SOL first to the customers who have been with us from the start. We will continue to strive for easier, more comfortable, and newer financial services that customers want."

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