Shinhan Bank Launches SOL Gathering Passbook Service

President Jung Sang-hyuk of Shinhan Bank. (Photos: Shinhan Bank)

Shinhan Bank launched the SOL Gathering Passbook Service to boost convenience for gathering members on Feb. 11.

The SOL Gathering Passbook Service allows users to organize gatherings and invite members without opening an account at Shinhan Bank and installing the bank’s app.

The mobile web-based service makes it easy for anyone to start managing meetings that do not involve financial transactions, such as setting gathering rules, managing calendars, basic accounting for gatherings and registering photos.

The SOL Gathering Passbook Service is a specialized account for gatherings that the leaders of the gatherings can create by opening a new account or converting an existing one to manage membership fees.

A promotion image for the SOL Gathering Passbook Service.

The leaders can easily invite members through calls, KakaoTalk and text messages among others.

The service has enhanced features for a convenient transfer of funds. Members can now automatically transfer money from the SOL Application of Shinhan Bank or Kakao Pay with the single click of a button.

The service also allows customers to easily change the leaders of their gatherings without canceling their gathering passbooks.

When you create an SOL Gathering Passbook, the number of a virtual account for the gathering is created, and when its members replaced their leader as a new one, the account number can be linked to the account of the new gathering leader.

This saves gathering members the inconvenience of having to change accounts for automatic transfers when their gathering leader is changed.

Strong Business Performances in 2024

Shinhan Bank posted a net profit of 3,695.4 billion won in 2024. This was a year-on-year increase of 20.5 percent, the largest ever.

The lender also took first place by posting the highest net profit among the four major Seoul-based commercial banks (Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Hana, and Woori) for the first time in six years since 2018.

Shinhan’s record-breaking performance was driven by an increase in interest income due to the growth of its loan assets.

While its NIM (1.58 percent) declined by 4 basis points year on year due to lower interest rates, the drop in its NIM was offset by a rise of 10.3 percent in Korean won loan assets over the same period.

This resulted in its interest income of 8,837 billion won, up 5.2 percent year on year. The expansion of Shinhan Bank’s non-interest income, led by fee income, also played a role in the bank’s record-breaking performance.

Its non-interest income amounted to 520.6 billion won, a year-on-year increase of 20.6 percent. While income from securities, foreign exchange, and derivatives contracted by 11.6 percent (115.1 billion won) over the same period thanks to volatility in the capital markets, commission income grew by 12.3 percent (112 billion won) thanks to increased sales in the IB, fund and bancassurance segments.

On March 13, Park Hyun-joo, vice president of the Consumer Protection Group at Shinhan Bank poses for a photo at a ceremony for the inauguration of the Shinhan Bank Customer Advisors for 2025 at Shinhan Bank’s headquarters in Seoul.

Inauguration Ceremony for Customer Advisors

On March 13, Shinhan Bank held a ceremony for the inauguration of the Shinhan Bank Customer Advisors for 2025 at Shinhan Bank’s headquarters in Seoul to practice customer-centric management.

The customer advisors provide various opinions on consumer financial protection, such as reviews of new products before their launch, suggestions for enhancing consumers’ rights and interests, and the pros and cons of products and services after trying them.

This time, advisors with disabilities and foreign advisors have been newly recruited to listen to the voices of more diverse customers.

They will be active until the end of this year and will reflect their opinions on products and services to help Shinhan Bank practice customer-centered inclusive finance.

The event began with a ceremony where the advisors received their appointment certificates and visited Shinhan Bank’s AI branch.

They had a chance to try AI branch services and share their opinions on the AI Branch, a futuristic sales outlet based on the concept of the harmony of AI and humans.