Profit generated from Shinhan Financial Group's digital channels, including its mobile app and internet banking, surpassed 1.5 trillion won in the first half of this year. Monthly active users (MAU) of its integrated financial platform "Shinhan Super SOL" also topped 11 million, prompting assessments that Shinhan Financial's digital transformation (DX) has expanded beyond cost reduction into a revenue-generating stage.
According to the financial industry on the 4th, Shinhan Financial's digital operating profit before deducting expenses reached 1.553 trillion won in the first half of this year, up 35.4% from a year earlier. After rising slightly from 1.107 trillion won in the first half of 2024 to 1.147 trillion won in the first half of last year, the pace of growth expanded significantly this year.
The result is interpreted as a combination of strengthened digital platform competitiveness and an expanded customer base. Customer inflows through everyday-oriented products such as the SOL Travel check card led to non-face-to-face subscriptions for deposits, savings, cards and investment products. The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI)-based product recommendations and personalized services, along with a first-half stock market boom that boosted stock trading through the mobile trading system (MTS) and non-face-to-face account openings, also had an impact.
The strategic cost reduction effect through DX was tallied at 306 billion won, the same as last year. This is an indicator that converts into monetary value the working hours and costs saved through expanded mobile transactions and electronic documents, as well as AI and robotic process automation (RPA). While the cost reduction effect remained flat, digital operating profit rose more than 35%.
Customer touchpoints are also widening. The MAU of Shinhan Super SOL, newly launched in June this year, rose from about 10.3 million just before launch to 11.13 million on the 30th of last month. That represents an increase of 830,000 in about 40 days. "SOL LINK," an integrated bank-securities account that allows customers to trade stocks from their bank account without a separate transfer, also saw 310,000 accounts opened within a month of its launch in July. "We will continuously strengthen our services and customer experience so that customers can meet their diverse financial needs on a single platform," a Shinhan Financial official said.
