Samsung Group’s financial units to enter personal data market

Samsung Financial Networks‘ group-wide financial platform, Monimo [Photo provided by Samsung Financial Networks]

Samsung Group is ready to pursue the data finance business in full swing as its affiliate Samsung Card Co. has now obtained a preliminary license to operate its personal data service, MyData.

According to financial industry sources on Monday, the Financial Services Commission agreed at a recent policy meeting to give a preliminary license to Samsung Card to operate MyData. A MyData operator can provide services that recommend the best financial products for a user, or help with asset and credit management after analyzing the personal finances and consumption patterns of a user, based on personal credit data gathered from various sources.

Samsung Card has been unable to enter any new business, including MyData, since its major shareholder, Samsung Life Insurance Co., faced severe disciplinary action by the FSC.

Samsung Card appears to be encouraged by the preliminary license, expecting business opportunities to maximize its data capabilities. The card company plans to obtain three major data licenses - for MyData, for a credit bureau covering small businesses and for data service providers - and to accelerate its data finance businesses based on existing services, like the customized card service, iD Card, and the group-wide financial platform, Monimo.

At present, Samsung Card is seeking a full license following its preliminary designation as a data service provider at the end of last year. A data service provider anonymizes and processes financial and non-financial data. It also applied to the FSC for a preliminary license for credit bureau services covering small businesses earlier in February. The services covering small businesses evaluate the credit of small business owners or that of the self-employed based on various data, including non-financial data that is not reflected in traditional credit scores.

Once obtaining all three full licenses, Samsung Card plans to completely revise its group-wide financial platform, Monimo. Launched by the group’s integrated financial brand Samsung Financial Networks last year, Monimo attracted users with a clean interface and certain perks, but the range of services the platform provided was clearly limited due to the absence of any data license.

Samsung Financial Networks’ grand plan is to directly connect Samsung Securities Co.’s securities trading system to Monimo, enabling all financial services on the platform, from basic services like payment and remittances to personal finance management, insurance and equity trading.