"Rapid Growth of Financial Super Apps... Differentiation More Important Than Being All-Purpose"

5 Major Financial Holding Companies Consolidate Affiliate Functions
Samsung Financial Networks Collaborates with KB Financial Group
Development Initiated After Toss's Success
Western Countries Focus on Function Differentiation
"All-in-One Super Apps Face Challenges in Market Responsiveness"

As domestic financial companies compete to develop super apps that consolidate core services of their affiliates, a study has emerged suggesting that instead of focusing on developing an all-in-one application that integrates all functions, differentiation by concentrating on specific features or themes is necessary.

According to the financial sector on the 10th, Hana Financial Research Institute recently stated in "The Super App Era, Banks' Strategic Measures" that "domestic banks should utilize mobile banking service differentiation strategies other than 'all-in-one' apps."

Domestic commercial banks are focusing on developing comprehensive financial platforms that integrate the apps of their parent financial holding companies' affiliates into one. Hana Financial Group launched 'Hana One Q' in September 2020, enabling various financial transactions such as stock trading and insurance diagnosis through the app. Recently, the app was revamped to focus on asset management, allowing users to check total assets and total expenditures at a glance on the main screen. Following this, KB Financial Group launched KB Star Banking in 2021, and Shinhan Financial Group released the super app 'Shinhan Super SOL' while keeping its existing mobile banking app. Woori Financial Group plans to launch 'New One Banking' in November this year. NH Nonghyup Financial Group provides not only banking services and core services of financial affiliates but also lifestyle services through NH All One Bank, but is focusing on super app development targeting next year. Recently, Samsung Financial Networks, a financial company without a bank, partnered with KB Financial Group to develop a super app. They launched a parking savings account in collaboration with Kookmin Bank on their app Monimo this month.

The reason commercial banks have actively started developing super apps is due to the emergence of Toss in Korea. Toss was launched in 2015 as a mobile financial platform and began offering consumers the functions of financial affiliates such as Toss Bank (bank), Toss Securities (securities), and Toss Insurance (insurance). Leveraging advantages such as having computer languages and server environments similar to game companies or general IT companies, enabling fast app development and updates, Toss rose as a super app leader.

Super apps began development in China and mainly flourished in Asian countries. For example, after China's WeChat and Alipay succeeded as super apps, Gojek was developed in Indonesia, and Grab and Paytm were developed in Singapore and India, respectively. This trend has also started to be detected in Western countries. Bank of America (BoA) integrated its banking app, securities and investment apps, and employee welfare app into a single financial app in March. Chase revealed a retail media network providing personalized advertisements during its super app development process. Six million corporate customers offer customized proposals, discounts, and cashback rewards to 80 million individual customers through the Chase app.

Their characteristic is not merely integrating functions but focusing on specific features or themes. U.S. banks are refining mobile banking related to payments and remittances (such as personal financial payments over $2,500 and credit card bill payments through external accounts) or enhancing services through collaboration with other companies. Specifically, Chase offers rewards and discounts through collaborations with Starbucks, Shell, and others on Chase Pay, while Mexico's BBVA has introduced financial services such as bank accounts and debit cards in collaboration with Uber.

Lee Si-eun, a researcher at Hana Financial Research Institute, said, "An all-in-one super app makes it difficult to analyze complex consumer preferences, gain insights into a variable market, respond quickly to regulations, and achieve perfect harmony or integration across domains," adding, "While domestic banks' entry into super apps is significant in increasing financial service benefits through app unification, they should focus on differentiated mobile banking services based on a clear direction rather than concentrating on being 'all-in-one.'"