AI is redefining finance, not just speeding it up. The boundaries between banks, cards, insurance, and securities are rapidly dissolving, with consumers seeking to manage payments, transfers, investments, insurance, and asset management all from a single platform.
Seon Won-geun, CEO of KakaoPay, is evolving the company from a simple payment service into an AI-driven lifestyle finance platform.
He believes the focus of finance should shift from products to user experience, preparing for a future where AI suggests financial options tailored to customer needs and allows them to execute transactions independently.
This strategy, which connects payment platforms to securities, insurance, digital assets, and global finance, stems from the same philosophy.
The AI finance that Seon Won-geun envisions is not about digitizing banks but creating a new platform that integrates finance into everyday life.
The focus of finance shifts from products to user experience
Seon Won-geun has long emphasized that the center of the financial industry will shift from financial companies to users. He stated, "We are moving beyond an era where users assert their rights to a time when companies must anticipate needs that users may not even recognize and provide services accordingly."
This philosophy is becoming increasingly important in the AI era, as AI learns from customer data on consumption, payments, investments, and insurance to suggest the most suitable financial options. Seon Won-geun envisions the future of finance as an industry focused on designing user experiences rather than merely selling products.
AI as the operating system for everyday finance
Seon Won-geun is focused on developing KakaoPay into a lifestyle finance platform. The goal is to connect payments and transfers with investments, insurance, and asset management all within a single platform.
Rather than listing individual services from financial companies, he aims to create an environment where AI understands the entirety of a user's financial life and seamlessly connects necessary services.
KakaoPay, integrated with the massive KakaoTalk platform, is setting an example of how finance can permeate daily life through AI.
Data as a competitive edge in AI finance
Shortly after taking office, Seon Won-geun restructured the organization by establishing a UX Design Department and a Data Department, viewing data and user experience as the core of AI competitiveness.
He is creating a structure that analyzes various payment, transfer, and investment data to provide personalized financial services to customers. The vast lifestyle data accumulated by KakaoPay is becoming a crucial asset for AI to predict individual consumption patterns and financial needs.
This represents a unique competitive advantage that traditional financial institutions find difficult to match.
Redesigning insurance for the AI era
Seon Won-geun believes the insurance industry must also evolve in the AI era. With the launch of KakaoPay Insurance, he stated, "We will meet new insurance demands that traditional insurers have structurally failed to address."
Starting with financial security insurance, he plans to expand lifestyle-oriented insurance and promote a model that suggests necessary insurance at the right moment based on user data.
AI will not just be a tool for selling insurance but will serve as the core engine of a lifestyle finance platform that predicts customer risks and connects them with appropriate coverage.
Preparing for the digital asset age
Seon Won-geun believes KakaoPay must prepare the core infrastructure for future finance.
The company is participating in the Bank of Korea's Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) phase two project, developing technology for offline CBDC payments and digital asset purchases, and implementing a payment system that allows transactions even in offline environments.
Collaborating with Samsung Electronics and KonaI, they have also ensured security and stability. He believes that the combination of digital currency and digital assets with AI will fundamentally change the structure of finance, and he is actively working on building future financial infrastructure.
Expanding platforms to create an AI finance ecosystem
Seon Won-geun views the expansion of platforms as synonymous with the expansion of finance. He has strategically invested in OKPOS, the largest POS company in the country, to broaden the offline payment ecosystem, enhanced investment services through KakaoPay Securities, and is continuously expanding the global payment network.
He sees finance not as a single product but as a platform that connects all transactions in daily life. Within this platform, AI will act as the brain that connects users with the most suitable financial services.
Restoring trust as a condition for AI finance
Seon Won-geun took over an organization shaken by stock option controversies. He declared that he would not sell his shares during his tenure and promised to repurchase company stock with stock option profits, pledging to donate the proceeds to society.
He also established an ESG Promotion Committee to strengthen responsible and sustainable management. He believes that no matter how advanced AI becomes, the essence of finance is trust, and if trust erodes, technology loses its significance. This commitment to responsible management is another competitive advantage supporting KakaoPay's AI strategy.
The essence of financial entrepreneurship
Seon Won-geun's vision of financial entrepreneurship is to change the operating system of lifestyle finance through AI. He aims to build a platform that naturally connects users' daily lives with finance, rather than creating a company that sells financial products.
Data-driven hyper-personalized services, lifestyle-oriented insurance, digital currency, global payment networks, and user-centered platforms all point in the same direction.
In the AI era, the winner in finance will not be the bank with the most branches but the platform that understands its customers the best. Seon Won-geun is working to break down the barriers of finance and design a new ecosystem for lifestyle finance.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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