How Hanwha’s Digital Solutions Are Helping to Redefine the Future of Finance
We live in times defined by fundamental and seismic change.
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically reduced face-to-face interactions, which has driven many service providers to accelerate their digital transformations. Fortunately, this shift has come at the right time, as the technologies emerging as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution are providing the capabilities that those service providers need to facilitate their transformations. At the same time, the influx of digital natives into the market is providing a significant consumer base for the adoption of these new solutions.
Technological advances and innovations are nothing new to the finance industry. The sector’s rapid rates of digital adoption, as well as increasingly disruptive mobile phone-based digital services, have given rise to new business models, the emergence of fintech startups and a new age of finance. In 2020 alone, global fintech investment reached $44 billion, an increase of 14% on the year before.
Hanwha is making its own contributions to this digital shift by providing a host of new digital products and services for the financial sector. Hanwha Group Chairman Seung Youn Kim highlighted the company’s achievements in last year’s 69th anniversary message, stating that Hanwha had “developed digital solutions and new businesses that could redefine the future of finance.”
Chairman Kim’s statement is a reflection of the progress Hanwha has made across regions and in partnership with its subsidiaries. Across the gamut, Hanwha businesses have introduced a broad range of financial solutions that are improving convenience, efficiency, personalization, security and more.
Making Financial Management Convenient
When they think of financial services, people generally conjure images of complex forms and indecipherable balance sheets. But this is now changing as providers begin to prioritize making the customer experience more straightforward.
For instance, convenience is one of the added benefits that Hanwha Investment & Securities subsidiary Pinetree Securities is bringing to its services. Investors who open securities accounts will now be able to do so quickly and easily, all online. Wherever they are, users only need an internet-connected smartphone, their ID card and a few minutes to open a securities account and begin trading with Pinetree.
In 2021, Pinetree Securities was honored with an award from the Internet Data Group (IDG) and the Vietnam Association of Securities Business (VASB) for optimizing the speed and stability of its trading platforms for its customers.
Hanwha Systems’ W1NE is an all-in-one service that drastically shortens the time it takes to develop new insurance products
Further efforts to improve convenience in financial services are evident in Hanwha Systems’ next-generation insurance core solution, W1NE (World No.1 Next Generation). This system is modularized to help facilitate the creation of new insurance products, and makes it easier to apply a range of different business rules to insurance offerings and customize them for the customers of each respective insurance company.
Modularization is also accelerating the launch of offerings such as life insurance, non-life insurance and online mini insurance products. Furthermore, digital technologies such as W1NE’s standard API (Application Programming Interface) and cloud computing additionally help insurance companies achieve digital transformation. With these technologies, the three to six months it used to take to develop and register a new insurance product can now be shortened to just one week.
Bringing Efficiency to Both Investing and Working
In this new age, it is imperative that the services we use give us the best possible bang for our buck. When it comes to financial services, customers not only expect to make money, but to save it – and to do so as efficiently as possible. Hanwha also delivers in this area, with its solutions bringing greater efficiency to financial services in a number of ways.
In 2021, Hanwha Asset Management introduced its PINE mobile app, which targets Gen Z and Millennial consumers. With this app, retail investors can buy and sell funds without having to go through fee-charging banks and securities firms.
PINE provides access to ten public funds that are specially designed to help investors achieve global asset allocation, make long-term investments and bet on future trends. By cutting out the middleman, the PINE app not only eliminates the fees that would normally go to banks or securities firms, but also removes sales commissions for purchases of marketplace funds.
Hanwha Asset Management’s PINE App lets retail investors conveniently buy and sell funds without having to go through intermediaries
Eager to be the change it wants to see, Hanwha Asset Management has implemented its “DREAM WORK” program to enable its employees to work both remotely and securely. The company has also launched a “Smart Work” system to provide the necessary infrastructure to support flexible work environments and facilitate access to Hanwha’s finance cloud.
Thus, we see that the contactless revolution is not only gaining traction in the financial sector, but is also picking up steam in the sphere of working environments. Systems like these help Hanwha employees improve their work-life balance, achieve self-development goals and increase their working efficiency.
Financial Services That Are a Match for You
There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to finance. This means that the solutions of the future must be customizable enough to meet a diverse range of needs.
Amid this climate, the LIME mobile app has been introduced as part of Hanwha Life’s “customer-centric” strategy to offer solutions that cater to a very broad range of customer needs in the areas of finance, insurance, lifestyle, fashion, beauty, wellness, entertainment, sport, and more. With LIME, Hanwha Life is aiming to establish a one-stop online hub for the app’s target groups, which include the Millennial and Gen Z demographics.
Both digitally savvy and non-digitally savvy consumers can use LIME to simplify complex processes, reduce paperwork and upgrade their experiences. Built with personalization in mind, LIME also allows its users to log in quickly and easily using their own social accounts.
Hanwha Life Vietnam’s LIME App makes it easy to check information on insurance plans, access lifestyle content and engage with other users
Recently, the company has also launched the even more personalized LIME Pro – an all-in-one app for digital sales opportunities, direct-to-FC (financial consultant), customer engagement, automated push notifications, training and event management. LIME Pro offers opportunities to better exploit big data and modify existing processes and cultures. On the whole, the app delivers an experience that seeks to fulfill each of users’ specific needs to an equal degree.
A Higher Standard of Security
But the most useful functions in the world are useless if they aren’t also highly secure.
Pinetree Securities, a subsidiary of Hanwha Investment & Securities, has upgraded its system for opening accounts by applying next-level security solutions that include the most advanced technology in the e-KYC (Electronic Know-Your-Customer) field. e-KYC technology verifies customers using biometric face-matching, real person verification and optical character recognition (OCR). It has also cut the time it takes consumers to open an account down to within a day, making securities trading experiences both more convenient and efficient.
eKYC technology uses various verification methods to make opening an account on the Pinetree Securities app safe and convenient
Better Ways Forward
Gone are the days of complicated, paperwork-heavy financial services. As the digital revolution gets into full swing, solutions from Hanwha’s financial divisions are making financial management easier and more efficient while introducing new standards of personalization and security.
Against the dual backdrops of the sustainability revolution and the ongoing digital transformation, Hanwha is also finding ways for its financial solutions to generate more sustainable outcomes. Hanwha Life, for instance, has opened a consumer protection center to offer face-to-face care for the digitally underprivileged, while Hanwha Investment & Securities has backed a next-generation Asian financial network called Lightnet. Lightnet is sustainable financing that targets unbanked and underbanked people, such as migrant workers, who rely on outdated, expensive and fragmented financial services across major Southeast Asian markets. What’s more, startup accelerator Hanwha DREAMPLUS has also been providing support for promising startups that include fintech companies.
With Hanwha’s broad array of solutions for the financial industries of the future, the ability to take control and manage your money has never been easier. And as the digitalization of the sector continues, an increasing number of people can expect to be given the chance to harness streamlined services to make sure their financial futures are bright.
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Related Affiliates
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Hanwha Life
Established in 1946, Hanwha Life is a leading life insurance company that is both the first and the oldest in South Korea. Early on, we played a critical role in developing the insurance industry and the country’s economic growth.
In 2017, we expanded but made sure to stay structurally sound. We reported total assets of USD 102.96 billion. At the end of 2017, we achieved a 206.4 percent risk-based capital (RBC) ratio, demonstrating the soundness of our asset quality. Our strong credit ratings from both domestic agencies and abroad attest to our creditworthiness. We have received sterling AAA credit ratings from South Korea’s top rating agencies for the past eleven years. From abroad, we received global credit ratings of A1 from Moody's and A+ from Pitch international credit rating agencies.
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Hanwha Investment & Securities
Established in 1962, Hanwha Investment & Securities provides comprehensive asset management services, including brokerage and acquisition of stocks, bonds, and derivatives, as well as sales and asset management services for various financial products. With our differentiated systems and high-quality talent, we have successfully established ourselves as a reliable asset management partner. Our financial products and customer-oriented services are offered domestically and overseas.
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Hanwha Asset Management
Founded in 1988, Hanwha Asset Management has grown into a comprehensive asset management company offering a full range of financial instruments, including stocks, bonds, MMFs, fund of funds, social overhead capital, derivatives, real estate, ETFs, and PEFs in both domestic and overseas capital markets. At the end of 2017, we were among South Korea’s top three asset management companies with USD 82.17 billion in assets under management (AUM). We have top-tier expertise and well-organized systems in all areas, including product development, research, compliance, and risk management. All our products and services cater to the needs of our customers because we apply our principles and management philosophy to placing our customers first before anything else.
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Hanwha Systems
As a leading global total solutions company, Hanwha Systems provides differentiated smart technologies in defense ICT and information infrastructure. In August 2018, we launched the new ICT division through the merger with Hanwha S&C. Our ICT division will enable us to increase our leadership in defense electronics by leveraging advanced defense IT and system integration capabilities. And by strengthening our SI business competencies, we will be able to expand into areas of public infrastructure and private security.
