[1mm Financial Talk] Hana Bank World Cup Savings: 'Disappointing' VS 'Appropriate'

Lower Base Rate Than Benchmark Rate and Difficult Achievement Conditions
Regret VS Assigning Meaning Through Numbers

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Hana Bank's recently launched World Cup limited edition savings product has received mixed reactions. While some express disappointment over the difficult-to-achieve conditions and the lack of attractive interest rates, others believe it carries meaningful symbolism.

According to industry sources on the 14th, Hana Bank recently launched the limited edition "Best 11 Savings" as part of its "Soccer! Finance! Ultimately, Hana" campaign. The product has a 6-month maturity with a base interest rate of 2.8% per annum (before tax). If various conditions are met, the annual interest rate can rise up to 11.0%.

The mixed consumer reactions stem from these "conditions." If the South Korean national soccer team advances to the semifinals ("Top 4") in the Qatar World Cup starting on the 20th, an additional preferential interest rate of 7.7% will be granted. Consumers have responded that the conditions are highly unlikely to be met, making even the highest preferential interest rate disappointing.

Office worker and soccer enthusiast Yonghoon Kim (34) said, "The base interest rate is only 2.8%, which is quite low among current savings products. They set a condition based on a result that has only been achieved once in history, yet offer an interest rate not much different from special products offered by credit unions. It made me chuckle. It would have been much better to boldly offer something like 20% annual interest if they were betting on a championship." Office worker Seunghwan Lim (32) said, "It seems like they want people to save on their own while effectively only giving 2.8% interest. Offering a savings rate lower than the benchmark interest rate?who would sign up for that when there are so many special promotions these days?"

Complaints arose because the base interest rate is lower than the Bank of Korea's benchmark rate (3%), and the preferential interest rate, relying on the faint possibility of reaching the World Cup semifinals, is only at a special promotion level. Especially since Hana Bank has been regarded as genuinely committed to soccer?consistently sponsoring the domestic professional K League and even acquiring Daejeon Citizen?the disappointment is growing.

In fact, various special promotion savings and deposit products have been flooding the financial sector recently. At the end of last month, Gwanak Credit Union in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, ran a special fixed savings promotion offering 10% annual interest, attracting a large crowd. The online sales, which started without prior notice, reached the 35 billion KRW limit in just six minutes. At the end of last month, when Daol Savings Bank launched a special fixed deposit promotion with an interest rate around 6.5%, customer demand was so high that branch business hours were extended and the mobile application experienced access failures.

However, some believe the campaign meaningfully expressed its concept through numbers. A representative from a commercial bank said, "The 11% interest rate seems to represent the 11 players on a soccer team, and the achievement condition appears to be a wish to recreate the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup semifinal miracle, so I think it was expressed in a meaningful way."