[Issue Interview] "NongHyup Bank's Super App Transition, Carefully Managed from the Customer's Perspective"

Interview with Park Dosung, Head of IT at NongHyup Bank
"Customer-Centric Approach Begins with Guidance Messages"

"From the initial planning stage, we focused on the guidance messages visible to customers within the application (app). We carefully organized every single word from the customer's perspective."

On the 10th, at the NongHyup Integrated IT Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, Park Do-sung, Vice President of the IT Division at NongHyup Bank, spoke about the key points of the digital financial platform transition project that has been ongoing since 2023. He laid the foundation for transforming the NongHyup Bank app, 'AllOneBank,' into a super app by scrutinizing the wording of messages visible in the app and maximizing server system performance in preparation for the explosive transaction volume during the Lunar New Year holiday. He also stated that the bank will continue to innovate, including advancing the operation of a disaster recovery (DR) center using public cloud services for the first time in the banking sector.

The digital financial platform transition at NongHyup Bank began in 2023. Since the system overhaul started, the bank has focused on turning AllOneBank into a super app, building a financial product mall, and completely revamping the product subscription process. After numerous tests, the system was finalized with the launch during this year's Lunar New Year holiday.

Park Do-seong, Vice President of the IT Division at NongHyup Bank, is taking photos at the NongHyup Integrated IT Center Idea Ground in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province on the 10th. Photo by NH NongHyup Bank

First, through AllOneBank, a full banking service that allows all transactions to be conducted non-face-to-face without visiting a branch was completed. App-related services such as the financial product mall and account management were developed into a single process, enhancing UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience). The app's response speed improved by an average of over 25%, and for the first time in the financial sector, all 37 digital financial systems (including internet and smart banking) were migrated to a cloud platform. Compared to before, costs are lower and efficiency is higher, allowing service application even during business hours.

Vice President Park said that the success of the nearly two-year-long project was mainly due to the dedicated attitude of the employees. About 900 IT and headquarters staff participated in the CBT (Close Beta Test) from just before the Lunar New Year holiday, identifying various errors. During the holiday, more than 1,000 employees came to the center to prepare for emergencies. He said, "Employees participated in testing and verification in three rounds, finding errors, and their responsible and ownership-driven efforts were the biggest factor in the success." He likened the employees' efforts to a 'swan,' saying that although the platform transition appeared smooth on the surface, "like a swan calmly gliding on water but paddling vigorously underneath, there was invisible hard work by the employees."

Park Do-seong, Vice President of the IT Division at NongHyup Bank, is answering questions at the Idea Ground of the NongHyup Integrated IT Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province on the 10th. Photo by NH NongHyup Bank

The project also faced a major crisis. Vice President Park recalled that the designation of January 27 as a temporary holiday before the Lunar New Year service launch was the most memorable event. He said, "The transaction volume estimation scenario made three months prior did not include the temporary holiday designation," and explained, "The designation of January 27 as a temporary holiday caused transactions for six days to explode on the 31st, coinciding exactly with the platform transition period." In fact, transaction volume on the 31st increased by about 215% compared to usual. Park's decision was to maximize server system performance. Normally, only 50% of the system is used due to cost concerns. However, requests were made to partners and server providers to temporarily raise performance to the maximum during the Lunar New Year holiday to prepare for any possible situation. As a result, NongHyup Bank explained that customers did not experience significant inconvenience.

The core of the platform construction was, above all, the customer. Vice President Park believed that messages visible to customers on the app or internet should be made easy to understand. The bank's characteristic of having many elderly customers was also taken into account. Accordingly, a standard guide was created to organize error and guidance messages.

Park Do-seong, Executive Vice President of the IT Division at NongHyup Bank, is taking photos at the NongHyup Integrated IT Center Idea Ground in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province on the 10th. Photo by NH NongHyup Bank

The platform transition also involved encouragement and efforts from Kang Tae-young, President of NongHyup Bank. Especially after his inauguration at the end of last year, Kang reportedly emphasized the platform transition to Vice President Park. Kang, who is known within the company as the 'father of AllOneBank,' has held positions such as head of the AllOneBank Business Division, head of the Digital Strategy Division, and Vice President of the DT Division. Vice President Park said, "Since he directly planned the project, his understanding was high, and he paid special attention to many aspects." During the Lunar New Year holiday, Kang opened the cafeteria for employees working and allowed partner company employees to use it free of charge. The labor union proposed operating a snack truck, which was actually run in front of the center's main gate from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Vice President Park added, "They prepared 300 servings, but it sold out quickly every day."

Regarding NongHyup Bank's future IT projects, Vice President Park announced a 'Cloud First' policy. This policy involves boldly transitioning suitable areas to the cloud, exemplified by the introduction of cloud services across all digital finance sectors this time. Although there is a backup center in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, for natural disaster preparedness, spatial limitations led to the bank being the first in the banking sector to fully adopt a public cloud strategy by outsourcing disaster recovery (DR) center operations to external providers (such as AWS and Naver). Vice President Park said, "Through the transition to PaaS (Platform as a Service) cloud, developers can create and deploy services frequently, and we plan to strengthen not only the super app transition but also the digitalization of corporate banking and global banking, areas where we are currently at a disadvantage."