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| Woori Bank CEO Kwon Kwang-seok attends an online event titled "Woori-MZ," Tuesday. Courtesy of Woori Bank |
Hana launches virtual employee training institute
By Lee Kyung-min
Commercial lenders are rushing to utilize the "Metaverse" ― a virtual environment where users interact with each other using digital avatars ― as a new communication channel to better attract millennials and Generation Z who are more comfortable with cyberspace than older generations.
The latest case is Hana Bank, which announced Monday that it has set up its employee training institute, Hana Global Campus, on Zepeto, an avatar app operated by the country's largest internet service provider Naver. The app is noted for having more than 200 million users.
"Hana Global Campus on Zepeto is an excellent example of how Hana Bank can meet challenges and foster innovation," Hana Bank CEO Park Sung-ho said.
Senior employees at other banks ― notably CEOs ― are seeking to familiarize themselves with the new, "fun" culture, a chance for them to reorient the rigid, top-down and hierarchy-driven communication and adopt a new mindset that best suits the needs of younger customers.
For instance, Woori Bank CEO Kwon Kwang-seok said that he held an event called Woori-MZ on Metaverse, in line with the bank's goal of "Digital First, Digital Initiative" this year.
Kwon created his own character and communicated with young bank employees who are millennials and Generation Z (together called Generation MZ), an experience he said helped him gain a deeper understanding of the new generations and the new online platform.
"The new type of communication helped everyone understand one another more deeply. The Metaverse will provide new opportunities for us to best adapt to the rapidly changing digital environment," he said.
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| Hana Global Campus on Zepeto. Courtesy of Hana Bank |
Meanwhile, Zepeto, often referred to as "the Korean equivalent of Roblox," began offering services in 165 countries in August 2018. Over 90 percent of Zepeto's users are overseas. About four in five of those users are teenagers.
Roblox, a Nasdaq-listed Metaverse firm in the U.S., is expected to report about $692.32 million (700 billion won) in sales in the second quarter, according to market consensus.
Shares of Roblox rose sharply from $67.90, May 7, to a high of $99.57 June 4, leading Korean investors to net-buy $48.27 million worth of its shares from June 14 to July 1.
Market watchers say the growth potential for Zepeto is greater than for Roblox, where users go only for games, since the Korean platform is more about K-pop and fashion, two of the most popular subjects among teenagers.
Zepeto's business soared last year after the firm received a hefty investment from the country's top three entertainment agencies. An investment of 7 billion won was made from HYBE, formerly known as Big Hit Entertainment, the agency representing boy group sensation BTS. Five billion won was drawn each from YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment.
Shares of Naver rose to an intraday high of 442,000 won, Tuesday.
