Who Will Win Year-End Tax Settlement...Banking Sector vs Big Tech Certificate War

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] As the year-end tax settlement approaches, competition to secure certificate customers in the financial sector has intensified. With the abolition of the public certificate, banks as well as big tech companies are focusing on the certificate business. Among commercial banks, following KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank will also introduce its self-developed certificate for the year-end tax settlement this year.

According to the financial sector on the 20th, the leader in certificates is KB Kookmin Bank. The number of subscribers to the KB Kookmin Certificate has exceeded 12 million. This certificate can be used at about 120 institutions including public institutions, MyData operators, and KB Financial Group affiliates. According to KB Kookmin Bank, the usage ratio of the certificate is 42% in KB Financial Group and 40% in public institutions, showing an increasing trend of use beyond affiliates. KB Kookmin Bank has entered a 'consolidation' phase ahead of the year-end tax settlement peak. If you complete the year-end tax settlement with the KB Kookmin Certificate by the 31st of next month, you will be entered into a draw to win 10 don of gold bars, gift certificates, and more.

Shinhan Bank has also surpassed 6.6 million subscribers for its own certificate. Shinhan Bank recently introduced a service that allows previewing the year-end tax settlement without accessing the National Tax Service Hometax. Year-end tax settlement simulation is possible through Shinhan Bank’s mobile banking app 'SOL'. A Shinhan Bank official said, "We were the first in the financial sector to acquire the electronic signature certification operator, and although we are a latecomer, unlike certificate operators that only provide simple login methods, all financial transactions are possible with the Shinhan Certificate alone." Hana Bank will also introduce its self-developed 'Hana OneSign Certificate' starting from the 2022 year-end tax settlement.

The year-end tax settlement is considered a major opportunity for private certificates of companies to grow significantly in a short period. If adopted in the year-end tax settlement service used by the majority of the public, long-term users can be secured. Banks are also expanding their private certificate business to utilize financial services and increase platform inflow. However, the bank sector’s certificate business faces the challenge of competition with big tech companies such as Naver and Kakao. In last year’s year-end tax settlement, the number of certificate uses by big tech companies was about 14 times higher than that of banks.

In fact, Kakao Certificate has surpassed 37 million subscribers, and Naver Certificate also has about 36 million subscribers. Especially, Kakao and Naver secured many users by providing certificate services during the COVID-19 period for vaccine reservation and other purposes. Therefore, the utilization rate of big tech certificates is expected to be high in this year’s year-end tax settlement. A financial sector official said, "It is not easy to surpass big tech in terms of subscribers already," adding, "We are enhancing competitiveness by adding various convenience features and increasing partnerships."

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