According to the financial sector on June 30, Shinhan Financial Group will revise the SOL membership program starting July 15. This move is seen as a follow-up to the launch of the integrated app "New Super SOL" on June 17, aimed at enhancing inter-company services among its subsidiaries.
The SOL membership is a group-wide customer rating system that aggregates transaction performance from four subsidiaries: Shinhan Bank, Shinhan Card, Shinhan Investment Corp., and Shinhan Life. It considers individual transaction records as well as a family aggregation system that combines family members' transaction performances for rating and benefits. The key change in this revision is the consolidation of the existing "Premier++ (3000 points or more)" and "Premier+ (2000 points or more)" into a single "Premier S (2000 points or more)" tier.
Shinhan Financial plans to introduce new financial benefits linked to transactions with group companies for its top-tier customers. Shinhan Bank will expand its financial benefits, which previously focused on non-financial offerings like coupons for coffee shops and mobility platforms, to include preferential interest rates on time deposits. Shinhan Card will adjust its interest-free installment plan criteria from the Premier++ tier to the Premier S tier, effectively lowering the threshold by 1000 points.
Conversely, benefits from Shinhan Life will be reduced. Starting August 1, the preferential interest rate of 0.2% on insurance contract loans, previously available to the Premier tier, will now only apply to the Premier S tier.
As a result, the 0.2% preferential rate for the Premier tier (1000 points or more) will be reduced to 0.1%, and the Ace tier (600 points or more), which previously qualified for a 0.1% rate, will no longer be eligible. This change effectively narrows the customer base eligible for the preferential interest rate on insurance contract loans, raising the threshold for benefits. Although the reduction is only 0.1 percentage points, the impact may be significant for customers who often rely on insurance loans for immediate cash needs. For instance, a customer borrowing 30 million won could see an annual interest difference of about 30,000 won due to this change.
Shinhan Life's membership points are calculated based on the number of contracts, monthly premiums, and total premiums paid. However, it may be challenging for customers who are not long-term clients or do not hold multiple insurance products to achieve the Premier S tier solely through insurance transactions. Without transaction records from other subsidiaries like banking, cards, or securities, maintaining the preferential interest rate on insurance loans becomes difficult. For example, a customer paying 200,000 won monthly for four protection insurance policies with total premiums of 25 million won may only accumulate around 600 points.
A Shinhan Life representative stated, "With the group SOL membership overhaul, financial benefits will be comprehensively restructured, and the preferential interest rate on insurance loans will be partially reduced. However, we are working on new financial benefits and plan to gradually expand non-financial benefits in the future."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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