November 25, 2024

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Shinhan Bank CEO Jung Sang-hyuk views the bank's AI technologies on display at CES 2024, held Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas. (Shinhan Bank)

South Korean banks will head to Las Vegas next January for CES 2025, with some set to showcase their latest artificial intelligence-driven financial technologies at the world’s largest consumer electronics event.

Among the participants will be Shinhan Bank, returning for a third consecutive year to host its own booth at the global expo. This year, the bank will highlight two of its newest innovations -- "AI Investment Mate" and "AI Branch."

"AI Investment Mate," slated for launch in December, is a chatbot service developed using Shinhan Bank's proprietary large language model. The service will answer users' questions on a range of financial topics, including individual stocks and macroeconomic conditions. Future updates will include practical features such as financial product recommendations. Initially integrated into Shinhan's mobile banking applications, the service will later expand to Shinhan Securities’ mobile trading system.

As part of its push for digital innovation, Shinhan Bank will also showcase the "AI Branch." Having opened the first of its kind in Seoul this month, the branch operates without human tellers, instead using Shinhan's "AI banker," which was introduced at CES this year. The AI banker offers a range of services, including deposits, withdrawals and currency exchange. Incorporating the bank's LLM technology, the branch supports multiple languages and offers longer operating hours than traditional in-person branches.

Shinhan Bank said it has not been confirmed whether CEO Jung Sang-hyuk, who took part in the tech show this year, will attend the event himself.

The state-run Industrial Bank of Korea will make its CES debut in January. At its booth, IBK will showcase an AI-powered tool that predicts business growth, enabling the identification of innovative firms and suggestions for strategic directions.

"While banks currently evaluate companies using a credit-based model, this new approach will enhance the process by assessing the growth potential of companies based on data," an IBK official said.

Chairman Kim Sung-tae will attend to mark the bank's first CES appearance.

The local financial industry has ramped up its engagement with CES in recent years to explore global technology trends and discover innovative future business opportunities. In 2021, Shinhan Bank became the first South Korean bank to host its own booth at the event. Other major banks will also attend, though they won't be showcasing their own technologies. KB Financial Group, the parent of KB Kookmin Bank, and Hana Financial Group, the parent of Hana Bank, will each send teams of employees and executives to Las Vegas, continuing their participation from last year. Woori Financial Group is returning to CES for the first time since 2020.

Local banks are rapidly adopting AI technologies. Last year, KB Kookmin

Bank reorganized its AI data headquarters into an "AI Data Innovation Headquarters" and began developing a GPT-based AI platform. Hana Bank launched an AI division this year, introducing a machine learning model for corporate evaluations and a chatbot for corporate clients. Woori Bank recently unveiled its AI banker service, set to be integrated into its upcoming AI-driven mobile app slated for release by year-end.

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)