Not Only LoL but Also Valorant... Woori Bank Launches App Development [1mm Financial Talk]

Planned Establishment of eSports Section in Woori WON Banking
First Sponsorship of VCT Pacific as well as LCK
"Targeting Game-Loving MZ Generation to Increase App Usage"

Woori Bank has embarked on building a game-related page within its banking application (app). Having consistently sponsored the popular game League of Legends (LoL), Woori Bank aims to attract the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) into its app ecosystem by supporting other games starting this year.

According to the financial sector on the 1st, Woori Bank has begun developing a new ‘eSports Hall’ page within its app, Woori WON Banking. This service, set to relaunch in September this year, will fill in missing features from the ‘WONhaneun LCK’ page for League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) fans and add information related to the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific, which Woori Bank has newly started sponsoring. The eSports Hall within the app will include various content such as match schedules, rankings, player information, match predictions, and MVP voting events for both LCK and VCT. A Woori Bank official stated, “With this sponsorship of VCT, we want to increase touchpoints with fans in a broader area,” adding, “Based on the VCT, which is wildly popular among people in their teens and twenties, we aim to approach the future generation of financial transactions in a familiar way.”

VCT is an eSports league for Valorant created by Riot Games, the developer of LoL. It is a 5-on-5 character-based tactical shooting game that has gained popularity among people in their teens and twenties since its release in 2020. According to the PC bang game statistics service ‘The Log,’ last month, the most played game by consumers in PC bangs was LoL. Valorant ranked third, following FC Online. It ranked higher than other first-person shooter (FPS) games such as Sudden Attack, Battlegrounds, and Overwatch. On the 28th of last month, the eSports team ‘Gen.G’ became the first Korean team to finish as runner-up in an international VCT tournament, demonstrating strong performance by Korean pro gamers.

Woori Bank has been actively sponsoring eSports since 2019 to strengthen communication with eSports fans. It hosted a high school LoL league and Woori Financial Group sponsored the LoL national team evaluation match, showing active support for eSports. This year, Woori Bank extended its title sponsorship contract for LCK until 2025 and participated as the title sponsor for VCT Pacific for the first time. At the sponsorship agreement ceremony, Woori Bank President Cho Byung-kyu expressed special interest, recalling the LoL Korean national team’s gold medal win at last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games and hoping that this would greatly contribute to the development and expansion of eSports.

This move by Woori Bank is ultimately an attempt to increase its app users. According to statistics from big data platform company IGAWorks, Woori WON Banking ranks 6th in monthly active users (MAU) among bank and banking apps. Although it ranked first in new installations in January, it still lags behind internet banks such as Toss Bank and Kakao Bank, as well as KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, and NH Nonghyup Bank. With the upcoming launch of Woori Financial Group’s integrated super app ‘New ONE’ at the end of this year, this can also be interpreted as an effort to secure as many users as possible in advance. There is also an intention to encourage product subscriptions and enhance brand image among the MZ generation. On the app’s ‘WONhaneun LCK’ page, users can purchase LoL skins with points earned through signing up for Woori Bank savings accounts and registering for automatic transfers.

Other banks are also integrating sports and games into their apps. Shinhan Bank, for example, participates as the title sponsor of the KBO League and offers match predictions, monthly MVP voting, and baseball quiz events within ‘Shinhan SOL Bank.’ Participants earn My Shinhan Points, which can be used like cash. KB Kookmin Bank opened ‘Kookmin Arcade’ in KB Star Banking last year, releasing two puzzle-type casual games.