Establishment by Q2 Next Year
Not Only Utilizing MyData
Portfolio Proposals for All Financial Products
Nation's First Generative AI Financial Consultation Service
Extension of 'AI Banker'
Woori Bank, the first in Korea to offer generative artificial intelligence (AI)-based financial consultation, is building a service that utilizes AI in asset management as well. Unlike existing services, it expands its scope by leveraging MyData and proposing portfolios covering all financial products. A key differentiator is that it goes beyond a simple customer service ‘chatbot’ level by collaborating with private bankers (PBs) to manage assets. Other banks have already launched or plan to launch related services.
According to the financial sector on the 5th, Woori Bank will internalize robo-advisors starting from the third quarter of this year. A robo-advisor is an asset management service where AI constructs and manages portfolios. The existing robo-advisor (Woori Robo-Alpha), introduced in 2017, was implemented through collaboration with external providers, and Woori Bank explains that it plans to advance this to launch a new service.
The biggest change is the utilization of MyData (personal credit information management service). While existing services only designed portfolios based on investment tendencies, the new service uses MyData to design portfolios based on an assessment of the assets currently held. MyData aims to provide customized financial services based on personal credit information scattered across banks, other financial institutions, and government agencies.
The new robo-advisor classifies customers into types based on their MyData, including income, age, occupation, household members, and homeownership status. It calculates financial indicators accordingly, compares them, and checks cash flow. It also diagnoses customer-held assets according to market outlooks and events. Subsequently, it analyzes financial investment tendencies such as asset preferences, risk tolerance, diversification, and profitability to propose portfolios. It can also estimate life cycles and analyze necessary funds according to customers’ investment goals.
Another difference is that the portfolio is proposed to customers covering all financial products. Unlike the existing robo-advisor, which provided portfolios composed only of funds, the new service aims to propose portfolios considering all financial products such as deposits, trusts, pensions, and insurance. It also incorporates investment strategies from investment strategy experts (analysts), enabling more flexible responses to rapidly changing financial market conditions.
The new robo-advisor will be integrated not only into Woori Bank’s banking application ‘Woori WON Banking’ but also developed with consideration for linkage with the super app New WON, which Woori Financial Group plans to launch by the end of this year. The goal is to identify customers’ insurance subscription status through the super app, propose portfolios, and then guide customers to subscribe to products from affiliates under the holding company. Development will start in the third quarter of this year, with the new robo-advisor expected to be launched by the second quarter of next year.
Woori Bank established a plan to utilize generative AI at the end of last year and launched ‘AI Banker,’ a financial consultation service based on this technology, in April. AI Banker, which learned from financial data such as conversations at bank counters, can even recommend deposits and savings products. A Woori Bank official stated, “The new robo-advisor is an extension of ‘AI Banker,’ which acts as an AI PB, aiming to apply generative AI to customer-facing services.”
Other major banks have also prepared or launched services using robo-advisors. KB Kookmin Bank plans to launch a service that comprehensively diagnoses assets held across financial sectors and proposes portfolios. Shinhan Bank will introduce an asset management service in September that provides portfolios including bancassurance, Individual Savings Accounts (ISA), and Individual Retirement Pension accounts (IRP). Hana Bank has been proposing portfolios to customers through its AI-based customer asset management service ‘iWealth’ since April last year.
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