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| Wanna One / Courtesy of Shinhan Bank |
By Park Hyong-ki
Global sensation boy band BTS may have helped boost the corporate image and services of KB Kookmin Bank.
But Shinhan Bank has Wanna One to thank for helping the lender attract a large number of young customers to its financial products and refurbishing its image as "young and hip," the bank said.
The 11-member boy band first emerged on a television program in 2017 where newcomers duke it out until the final round of singing and dancing in order to gain a spot in the final idol group.
They got their shot at fame, with CJ E&M, an entertainment subsidiary of CJ Group, officially launching their career with debut song "Energetic" ― a track composed by a member of fellow idol group, Pentagon.
As the heartthrob band began to attract young women's attention, Shinhan Bank signed a contract with them in early 2018 for the band to participate in the advertising of the bank's products.
After Shinhan launched check cards and account books featuring pictures of Wanna One members in March 2018, the bank issued nearly 20,000 account books mostly to young female consumers in their 20s and 30s.
As of Oct. 2018, more than 110,000 Wanna One check cards have been issued. Although the group may not be as globally popular as BTS, Wanna One has still helped Shinhan hit the jackpot with young consumers.
To this end, the bank said it has extended the contract with Wanna One by three months. The group's initial contract period was supposed to end in August.
Wanna One is also "the face" of Shinhan Bank's new mobile platform named SOL, which now has more than 7 million users, including 1.2 million people who moved to SOL from the bank's earlier platform S Bank, according to the bank.
SOL was launched in February, during the same period that Shinhan Bank signed the contract with Wanna One.
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