Samsung set to launch integrated financial app in March

Samsung Group's corporate flag flies in front of its headquarters in Seoul. Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

Samsung Group is set to launch an integrated financial app, tentatively named Monimo, as early as March, with a view to overcoming toughening competition against the rapid rise of big tech players.

The app enables users from Samsung's financial arms ― such as Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Samsung Securities and Samsung Card ― to view all their information at one glance via the platform.

The four financial affiliates of Samsung have around 32 million subscribers here. The tech giant aims to expand its presence in the online finance market by launching the app at a time when Naver and Kakao ― two of Korea's most influential internet and mobile platform operators ― are aggressively widening their revenue streams into the market. Kakao Pay has more than 20 million subscribers, with Naver Pay coming in second in the online payment market with 16 million users.

The rise of fintech startups ― such as Toss ― also comes as a challenge to Samsung's financial affiliates. For instance, Toss is expanding its influence in the market by aggressively releasing a series of financial services in areas ― including banking and securities ― by taking advantage of its easy-to-use mobile platform.

Of particular note is whether Samsung will launch newly integrated services by utilizing its mobile payment service Samsung Pay, one of the most frequently used financial apps in Korea.

But Samsung's expansion into the MyData business is still facing challenges. Under the project, any financial firms winning licenses to operate MyData platforms can offer users comprehensive financial information in a single platform, so they can easily and conveniently check diverse financial data at a glance.

Samsung Life Insurance, however, cannot seek the license for the time being, as it received an institutional warning from the Financial Supervisory Service last week. Any market players slapped with the sanction are barred from tapping into new businesses for a year.

This also means the integrated app cannot display users' comprehensive information from other financial firms.

“Despite Samsung's dominant tech presence here, it remains to be seen whether the integrated platform will be able to generate tangible outcomes in the early phase, as most other competitors have already entered the MyData sector, which is not the case for Samsung,” an industry source said.