Shinhan Card to Launch Proprietary Authentication Service Starting May

The Card Industry's First Private Certificate
System to Be Established by Next Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] Shinhan Card is launching its own authentication certificate to replace the public certification, becoming the first in the card industry to do so. In the long term, it plans to expand this service to external services such as public institutions and target the electronic certification market worth approximately 70 billion KRW.

According to Shinhan Card on the 9th, it plans to establish a private authentication system by the end of next month and start its own certificate service from May. Previously, with the amendment of the Electronic Signature Act in December last year, the public certification was abolished after 20 years, and private certificates gained equal status with public certificates.

Regarding the domestic electronic certification market, fierce competition is underway as not only banks and financial sectors but also telecommunication companies and big tech firms race to secure market dominance. The global multi-factor authentication market, including Europe, is about 6 trillion KRW, and the domestic electronic certification market, still in its early stages, is expected to grow rapidly in the future.

For card companies needing business diversification, the electronic certification market represents a new growth opportunity. Having their own certificate can also save costs such as authentication fees. The key is commercialization. With many private certificates already available in the market, the important factor is how many customers can be secured. Shinhan Card believes it can sufficiently secure versatility based on its industry-leading 26.8 million Shinhan Card customers.

A Shinhan Card official said, "We plan to replace public certification using the established private authentication system and expand it to external services such as public institutions in the future."

Shinhan Card plans to secure leadership in future business models through data- and digital-based business competition this year. It set a digital transaction amount target of 40 trillion KRW, 10 trillion KRW higher than last year. It also presented an aggressive goal to achieve half of its net profit through digital business channels.

In August, the 'Shinhan Paypan' application will provide not only total financial services but also personalized non-financial benefits tailored to individual lifestyles. Shinhan Paypan is recognized as a leading comprehensive platform in the domestic financial sector, equipped with total consumption management functions, with 13 million subscribers, 1 million daily visitors, and an annual payment amount of 13 trillion KRW.