[1mm Financial Talk] Mutual Finance Strengthening Digital... Launch of Super App

Saemaeul Geumgo to Transition MG The Banking to Super App Next Month
Strengthening Non-Face-to-Face Business Base
Encouraging Member Investment Sign-Ups and Aiming to Boost App Usage

Mutual finance sectors have begun strengthening digital accessibility. This trend is similar to commercial banks launching super apps that consolidate their own applications. Competition among mutual finance institutions is expected to intensify, including the activation of non-face-to-face product subscriptions for not only members but also general consumers.

According to the financial sector on the 12th, the National Credit Union Federation of Korea plans to convert ‘MG The Banking’ into a super app in January next year. Final tests are underway for this, specifically integrating the existing simple transaction-focused MG Sangsang Bank and MG Smart Alarm apps into MG The Banking. The National Credit Union Federation of Korea stated, “In a financial environment where the traditional strength of face-to-face transactions at Saemaeul Geumgo is continuously shrinking, it is essential to significantly expand the business base in the non-face-to-face sector,” adding, “After establishing a strategy to elevate MG The Banking’s competitiveness to the level of commercial banks, we are fully committed to building an innovative digital platform.”

The policy of financial holding companies integrating their affiliate apps into a single super app, which has been underway for several years, influenced this move. Saemaeul Geumgo explained, “In recent years, the financial sector has focused on customer acquisition and financial territory expansion through competition in super app development, and Saemaeul Geumgo has entered this competition by completely rebuilding its financial app.” Among the five major financial holding companies (KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup), four have launched super apps, and Nonghyup Financial Group is scheduled to launch one in January next year.

After transitioning to a super app, activating non-face-to-face product subscriptions is Saemaeul Geumgo’s main goal. Through the MG The Banking app, five types of new non-face-to-face loan products, including apartment mortgage loans and jeonse deposit loans, as well as non-face-to-face loan agreement services, will be introduced. Additionally, services for members and youth will be launched together. First, membership subscription will be possible non-face-to-face without visiting a branch. The ‘Our Child Financial Life’ service, which allows parents to open allowance accounts and check cards for minor children non-face-to-face, is also under development.

The National Credit Union Federation of Korea announced that it plans to transform 'MG The Banking' into a super app in January next year and has entered the final testing phase for this. The photo shows the exterior of the Saemaeul Geumgo IT Center. Provided by the National Credit Union Federation of Korea. Photo by Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association.

Saemaeul Geumgo expects the super app to increase contact points with general customers and activate app usage. They plan to strengthen content such as fortune-telling, healthcare, and psychological tests to encourage prolonged activity within the Saemaeul Geumgo platform. Given that mutual finance is centered on members who already extensively use existing apps, they aim to attract general customers based on the activation of the super app. In fact, Saemaeul Geumgo customers use their existing apps more than customers of other banks. As of last month, the number of subscribers to Saemaeul Geumgo-related apps was 2.73 million for MG The Banking and 860,000 for Sangsang Bank. According to Mobile Index, last month’s user numbers were 1,411,498 for MG The Banking and 480,160 for Sangsang Bank. The user-to-subscriber ratios are 52% and 56%, respectively. For KakaoBank (323410), the leading internet bank, the customer count as of Q3 was 24.43 million, and last month’s user count was 10,528,364, resulting in a ratio of 43%.

Meanwhile, the National Credit Union Federation plans to maintain two separate apps (OnBank and LifeOn) for the time being as part of its digital strategy. OnBank is the first app in the mutual finance sector that allows non-face-to-face member registration and share account opening. It recorded 2.977 million subscribers as of last month, nearing 3 million. LifeOn, an app for members, provides not only banking functions but also various membership-specialized features such as promoting member stores and direct transaction markets. It is also known that Suhyup Bank, one of the specialized banks, plans to merge its apps HeyBank and PartnerBank into one. PartnerBank operates mutual finance services of Suhyup together.