Financial firms gears up AR promotion
Seen above is a captured image of Hyundai Card’s Joker app. / Courtesy of Hyundai Card
By Nam Hyun-woo
Financial firms here are gearing up their sales pitches with apps embracing augmented reality (AR) technology, providing fresh financial experiences to customers.
AR refers to a combination of the real environment and computerized information, converging reality with simulated digital information. With the worldwide popularity of the mobile game Pokemon Go, the technology has become popular, luring some tech-savvy financial firms to tap into the domain.
Hyundai Card said Tuesday that it has released its promotion app Joker. Based on AR, characters named Joker appear on the screen when a user approaches Hyundai Card-affiliated stores, cafes or cinema complexes. Should the user “catch” jokers by touching them, the app provides discount coupons or vouchers that can be used at those stores.
The card issuer said the app is “a parody” of Pokemon Go, allowing users to employ certain attack skills to catch Jokers. “The app is to let customers enjoy card benefits with more fun,” a Hyundai Card official said.
Earlier, the card issuer of Hana Financial Group last week added a similar function to its membership app, Hana Members. With the function, dubbed Hana Money Go, various icons appear on the screen and users can receive Hana membership points or vouchers by touching them.
Observers say financial firms are putting more emphasis on releasing AR apps in order to establish mobile platforms in which their clients “stay inside” the platform and use various financial services.
“Occupying the leading position in the competition of mobile platforms came as a keyword to many financial firms,” said a Seoul-based analyst. “Firms will pay more effort to embrace not only AR but also other cutting-edge technologies in order to keep their apps interesting to their customers.”