Shinhan Financial Group has reorganised its super app strategy into a banking-application-based "one app" structure. It plans to combine the existing Shinhan SOL Bank and Shinhan Super SOL to bring banking users into the group platform and connect them to non-bank services such as cards, securities and insurance.

Shinhan Financial unveiled the integrated financial platform "Shinhan Super SOL" on Tuesday. The overhaul goes beyond the previous integrated app’s focus on linking key functions by affiliate and instead puts full banking, securities, card and insurance functions into a single app.

The core is a shift from "linking" to "integration". Previously, handling detailed tasks by affiliate sometimes required switching to separate apps, but the new Super SOL changes the structure so major financial tasks can be completed within one app.

The overhaul reflects the limits of the existing super app strategy. Financial groups have sought to increase the time customers spend in their apps and secure a cross-selling base through integrated apps that bundle banking, card, securities and insurance affiliates, but there have been limits to getting users to install and repeatedly use separate apps.

Shinhan Financial’s move to a one-app conversion based on the banking app is also seen as a choice to naturally bring existing bank customers into the group platform. The view appears to reflect a judgement that making the banking app, which already has a large customer touchpoint, the central axis is a more realistic expansion strategy than trying to induce users to install a separate super app.

Shinhan Financial also made relatively clear the limits of the existing Super SOL in this overhaul. Sung-ik Jeon (전성익), head of Shinhan Bank’s customer platform division, explained that "until now, Super SOL has contained only 30 percent of the entire group’s tasks" and that "to see more card information or use stock functions, you ultimately had to reinstall the card app or the securities app".

Jeon presented the direction of the new Super SOL as removing boundaries among banking, cards, securities and insurance. He stressed that "it does not mean eliminating the banking app, but erasing the boundaries between the bank and cards, securities and insurance" and that "we made it possible to handle everything from subscribing to financial products to stock trading and buying insurance within a single app".

A revamp of the home screen was also cited as a key change. While the home screen of existing financial apps is organised around banners and menus without differences by user, the new Super SOL lets customers pull up functions they use often and hide unnecessary information. Users can also arrange benefit services such as Sol Baseball, 50 Plus Walk and Salary Club in their preferred order, along with financial information such as assets, spending, securities and insurance.

A "Today" section was newly added at the very top of the home screen. It is a space that first shows financial information that needs to be checked that day, such as payday, card payment date and loan maturity date. Jeon explained it as "returning the most expensive spot, where ads would normally go, to customers".

In the product section, the app enables users to compare bank and securities products on one screen. Previously, users had to check a bank IRP and a securities IRP in the bank app and the securities app, respectively, but the new Super SOL lets them compare Shinhan Bank’s IRP and Shinhan Investment Corp’s IRP on the same screen. It also created a "Discovery" area that shows recommended products by interest area such as travel, health and wealth management, products popular with same-age customers and recently viewed products.

◆ SOL LINK connects bank funds to securities trading... responding to money moves

As a flagship product, Shinhan Financial presented "Shinhan SOL LINK", which combines bank deposit and withdrawal accounts with stock investment functions. The account is a combined bank-securities product designed to let customers use funds deposited in a bank liquidity account as real-time stock trading funds without separate transfers. Customers can open bank and securities accounts at the same time within Super SOL and start stock trading without moving to a separate securities app.

Shinhan Financial positioned SOL LINK as a strategic product to respond to the flow of money moving into capital markets.

Jin-geun Yang (양진근), head of platform business at Shinhan Investment Corp, said during a presentation that "recently 54 trillion won in funds left demand deposits and MMDAs at the four major banks and flowed into funds around the stock market, and the stock investing population has exceeded 14 million". He added that "investment is no longer something special people do, but has become a financial activity everyone does".

Yang explained that the key of SOL LINK is lowering the barrier to entry for bank customers to begin investing. He said customers can open bank and securities accounts at the same time in Super SOL and trade stocks immediately without separate fund transfers. He added they can keep funds in a bank liquidity account and use them as real-time stock trading funds.

Fee competitiveness was also highlighted. SOL LINK’s stock trading fees were set at 0.01 percent for domestic stocks and 0.07 percent for overseas stocks. Shinhan Financial aims to reduce inconveniences bank customers felt in opening securities accounts and transferring funds, and connect intra-group fund flows to securities trading.

The stock trading screen is also placed prominently within Super SOL. Shinhan Financial added a stock tab to the main menu so users can move to stock services from any screen in the app. It configured the order method so users can choose simplified orders or general orders depending on their level of user experience.

◆ Combining AI and lifestyle services to increase time spent... actual usage is key

AI-based investment support functions are also provided. Shinhan Financial explained that Super SOL’s AI PB is designed to find and summarise customers’ stocks of interest, holdings and market investment information, and help with investment decisions. Yang said the AI PB will take over the work of searching and selecting amid a flood of information, and that "before long, we may also see AI evolve into an investment agent".

The AI agent function expands beyond investing to financial tasks overall. It is designed so customers can handle financial tasks through keyword input or conversation without having to find menus themselves. Jeon said that with a single phrase such as "change my transfer limit", AI can guide and process the relevant task, and that the number of tasks that can be completed through conversation is as many as 50.

The integrated AI distinguishes and connects banking, card, securities and insurance areas depending on the nature of a question. For example, the question "How are Tesla stock trends?" is routed to the securities area, while "I want to change the account where my insurance premium is withdrawn" is guided by linking insurance and banking tasks. Shinhan Financial explained that execution of financial tasks is carried out through verified systems, in a structure where AI understands the conversation and financial systems process it.

Lifestyle content such as baseball and running was also combined with Super SOL to strengthen non-financial elements. In "Sol Baseball", users can build their own team or join outcome predictions based on real game data, and in "Shinhan 50 Plus Run", users receive points and a running report based on running activity. Accumulated points can be used for depositing into an account, gifting to friends and payments at a dedicated shopping mall.

"Sol Family", a family finance service, is also newly introduced. Parents can create and view their children’s deposit and withdrawal accounts and fund accounts from a parent account, and it also provides allowance management and unusual transaction alerts. Shinhan Financial plans to bundle children’s financial management and parents’ reassurance functions into a single family finance service.

The key is actual usage after integration. Competition among financial super apps is increasingly focusing not on the number of installs but on monthly active users, transaction conversion rates and the frequency of non-bank service use. For Shinhan Financial, a key task is likely to be how much it can lift securities, card and insurance transactions while maintaining existing bank customers’ app usage flow through the new Super SOL.

If it fails to expand banking app users into securities, card and insurance customers, the meaning of an integrated app is bound to be limited. Beyond simply gathering banking tasks into one app, converting key group services into actual use is expected to determine the success or failure of this overhaul.

Shinhan Financial Chairman Ok-dong Jin (진옥동) said the new Shinhan Super SOL is not simply an app revamp but an all-in-one financial platform that implements banking, cards, securities and insurance in a single app. He added that through the dedicated product Shinhan SOL LINK, a personalised UI and UX, and AI agent-based services, it will provide a new financial experience that customers have not experienced until now.