[Featured Stock] Finger Arms with Core Technology in Life-or-Death Metaverse Battle in Banking Sector... Q4 Operating Profit Quadruples

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Finger is gaining momentum. The news that the financial metaverse platform 'Dokdo Bus' has surpassed 30,000 pre-registrations appears to have influenced the stock price.

At 10:14 AM on the 1st, Finger is trading at 21,150 KRW, up 4.44% from the previous day.

Finger is a B2B fintech solution company established in December 2000. It developed Korea's first scraping solution and mobile banking service. It holds the largest number of references for building smart financial platforms in Korea, including NH Nonghyup Bank (Smart Banking), Shinhan Bank (SOL), and Woori Bank (WON Banking).

Pre-registration for Dokdo Bus began on the 30th of last month. Nam Yunho, CEO of Finger’s blockchain subsidiary ‘MyCreditChain,’ said, "We quickly exceeded the initially planned target and are urgently improving the Dokdo Bus pre-registration UI."

Dokdo Bus promotes itself as the most entertaining financial metaverse platform. In October, Finger announced the plan for 'Dokdo Bus,' the first financial metaverse platform that combines metaverse and finance. Dokdo Bus is a financial metaverse platform where avatars (customers) can play games against the backdrop of Dokdo implemented in a metaverse environment, accumulate assets, and invest or trade them. By adding gaming elements and the patriotic element of Dokdo, it targets a broad customer base from the MZ generation to senior generations.

Within Dokdo Bus, NH Nonghyup Bank has opened a metaverse branch to provide financial services. An NFT (Non-Fungible Token)-based digital asset system is introduced within Dokdo Bus, allowing users not only to spend time playing games but also to link with real-world profits.

Dokdo Bus citizenship is issued with NFTs. The NFT-based citizenship is a "certificate verifying citizenship of Dokdo Bus." Ownership and transaction history are specified. Since citizenship cannot be forged or duplicated, ownership is securely guaranteed and resale is possible. Users who own Dokdo Bus citizenship can hold land and build buildings. Due to its scarcity, it holds value and can be sold. The company expects the value of Dokdo Bus citizenship issued to increase over time.

DOS (Dokdo Synchronizer) is the currency used in Dokdo Bus. All users, including Dokdo Bus citizens, can use DOS to purchase items or complete quests and accumulate it. It can also be traded with other users. DOS is linked with financial services connected to Dokdo Bus, making it useful in real life beyond the metaverse.

Park Minsu, CEO of Finger, said, "The Dokdo Bus project brings together Finger, which knows smart finance well, NH Nonghyup Bank with a large customer base, and the blockchain-based startup MyCreditChain," adding, "We will lead innovation in finance within the metaverse, i.e., ‘Meta-finance,’ through Dokdo Bus."

Finger’s core business growth is also continuing. Park Jongseon, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, analyzed, "Fourth-quarter sales and operating profit are expected to increase by 55.6% and 351.7% year-on-year, respectively," and added, "As the financial sector’s MyData platform construction project is actively underway, it will contribute to performance growth." Sales of 27.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 2.3 billion KRW are expected in the fourth quarter.

ResearchAlum expects that the metaverse promoted by banks will replace smart banking. According to the Bank of Korea Economic Statistics System, the share of smart banking in bank transaction channels increased from 39.4% in 2015 to 66.6% in 2020. Kim Doyoon, a researcher at ResearchAlum, said, "With the increase in non-face-to-face channel transaction volume, banks are expanding investments in online platforms, and the metaverse platform will emerge as the next-generation channel following smart banking," adding, "From the bank’s perspective, which needs to sell financial products to customers, a structure that encourages continuous, voluntary, and convenient branch visits through content such as games is attractive."

Considering the competitive relationship among banks, Kim expects that if one bank successfully opens a metaverse branch, other banks will follow suit. He said, "We look forward to customer companies’ love calls for Finger, which holds the largest number of references for building smart financial platforms in Korea."

He also introduced Finger as "a company that possesses numerous patented AI and blockchain fintech core technologies developed first in Korea," and "a company with excellent capabilities to commercialize these technologies and translate technology development into sales."