[MZ Tech]⑩ Habits Turn into Money... MZ Generation's Challenge Tech

Taking on Various Challenges Like Early Rising and Exercise
Targeting MZ Generation's Preference for Self-Development

Editor's NoteFinancial technology for the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) is both an investment and a culture. While the goal is to make money, when attention rises among peers, everyone rushes to 'prove' themselves. This is why resell tech (securing scarce items and reselling them at a premium) and fractional investment (multiple people investing together in one asset and sharing the profits) have become popular. We explored the investment methods of the MZ generation, who approach financial technology with ingenious methods unimaginable to older generations.

Park, a worker in his 20s, earns pocket money by practicing the 'Miracle Morning,' waking up early at dawn. He uses so-called ‘challenge tech,’ where completing missions earns rewards. Park participated in the '6 AM Wake-up Challenge,' taking daily wake-up verification photos for two weeks, and received 51,000 KRW back, which included a 50,000 KRW deposit plus a 1,000 KRW prize. Park said, “Some degree of compulsion is necessary to form habits, and since I paid my own money, I worked hard not to waste it,” adding, “Through this process, I can build habits and earn a little money, killing two birds with one stone.”

Challenges currently recruiting on the Challengers application (app). (Photo by Challengers app)

For the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), habits can also become money. This is why challenge tech is popular among them. The money-making structure works like this: participants pay a deposit to join the ‘6 AM Wake-up’ project. After completing the challenge for a set period, the organizer refunds the deposit based on how much of the goal was achieved. For example, 90% achievement results in a full refund, and 50% achievement results in a half refund. The remaining deposits are distributed as prize money among those who achieved 100% of the goal. For the MZ generation, who value self-development after work such as exercise or foreign language study, this is a ‘two birds with one stone’ financial technology.

The app 'Challengers,' which centers on challenge tech, recruits participants with various themes such as ‘watch home training videos and exercise,’ ‘drink a glass of water in the morning,’ and ‘eat fruit once a day.’ The prize pool varies depending on the deposit participants place, but typically, if you bet 50,000 KRW, you can earn about 2,000 KRW in a month. As the challenge difficulty increases, the prize money grows because many drop out midway. This has led to prize hunters targeting high-difficulty challenges like ‘certify one hour of cardio every day.’ Although it looks like a small side job to collect spare change, there are notable cases of people participating in multiple challenges and earning 200,000 KRW over a year and withdrawing it.

Targeting this demand, running ‘online study rooms’ as a side job has also become popular. Instead of simply providing a platform through an app, the person takes charge as the study leader and runs the challenges. Since the study leader collects deposits and sets weekly missions and feedback, it allows for more meticulous management than an app, making it popular.

These study rooms can be held on various hobby topics such as dieting, financial technology, and foreign languages. Because you can leverage your interests or specialties to earn money, it is popular as a ‘side job for people in their 20s and 30s that can be done with just a smartphone.’

Various studies established in KakaoTalk chat rooms.

On social networking services (SNS), various advice is also thriving. First, to run a study room side job, it is recommended to post specialized blog posts on one topic such as foreign languages or dieting. This builds credibility to run a study. Financial technology experts advise that initially, you should run the study for free without charging members, and instead ask them to write reviews to spread word of mouth. Once it becomes known as a ‘good study,’ you can start charging deposits and operate it.

Those who have organized studies say the income is quite substantial. Kim, who organized an English script reading study leveraging experience living abroad, said, “If you organize a study charging 30,000 KRW per person and refund 20,000 KRW upon success, even with just 10 members, the leader can earn at least 100,000 KRW.”

The MZ generation is rational. Rather than nagging “You should wake up early,” the motivation is stronger with “If you don’t wake up, you lose your principal, but if you keep it up, you can earn money.” Recently, financial companies and others have aligned with this trend to attract MZ customers. Samsung Financial Networks launched the integrated platform app ‘Monimo’ and runs challenges that pay cash for attending daily investment lectures. The financial platform Toss also provides points convertible to cash through daily walking missions.