Financial platforms are now competing to increase user engagement by introducing mini-games and short-form videos. As remote financial services become more common, the time customers spend on apps has emerged as a key competitive advantage, prompting these platforms to evolve into comprehensive daily-use platforms.
According to the financial sector on July 15, Toss has recently integrated short-form videos, popular on social media, into its shopping feed through a new 'Shopping Creator' service. Creators can submit videos that have garnered high views on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, which are then vetted and selected for display among special offer products.
Videos that pass the vetting process receive rewards based on their view counts. For instance, videos with over 5 million views on Instagram or 3 million on YouTube can earn creators rewards starting at 300,000 won (approximately $250), with a minimum of 100,000 won for lower view counts. This opportunity for additional income has attracted interest among younger users as a potential side hustle.
Toss's strategy of offering substantial rewards for short-form content aims to enhance its shopping competitiveness while increasing app engagement time. By securing content that has already proven popular on social media, Toss seeks to accumulate user response data and encourage users to consume products and content simultaneously on the same screen. The implementation of an infinite scroll feature in the shopping feed is also seen as a tactic to extend users' content consumption time.
A Toss representative stated, "Integrating short-form content into the shopping feed is an experimental attempt to make Toss Shopping a more popular service among users. We are focusing on vetting videos that provide entertainment and useful information, excluding advertising and sponsored content to attract user interest."
Other financial platforms are also expanding mini-games and reward content to increase user engagement time. KakaoPay operates mini-games within its app, rewarding users with points for playing games for over 30 seconds or for frequent visits. Naver Pay encourages app access through event-based games like 'Lucky Ball' and a point-earning character development service called 'New Pay Pet Raising.'
These strategies are showing tangible results. According to the mobile index from IGAWorks, Toss recorded an average of 21.84 million monthly active users (MAU) in the first half of this year, ranking first in the financial and banking sector. KakaoPay reached a record high of 11.87 million MAU in May, while Naver Pay saw a 15% increase to 6.53 million MAU compared to the previous year.
Industry analysts suggest that the competitive landscape for financial platforms is shifting from traditional services like remittances and payments to content-driven competition. The longer users stay on the app, the higher the likelihood of connecting them to core financial services such as shopping, savings, loans, and investments.
An industry insider remarked, "In the future, survival in the financial market will depend on platform competition, and the race to secure user engagement time will become even more intense."
According to the financial sector on July 15, Toss has recently integrated short-form videos, popular on social media, into its shopping feed through a new 'Shopping Creator' service. Creators can submit videos that have garnered high views on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, which are then vetted and selected for display among special offer products.
Videos that pass the vetting process receive rewards based on their view counts. For instance, videos with over 5 million views on Instagram or 3 million on YouTube can earn creators rewards starting at 300,000 won (approximately $250), with a minimum of 100,000 won for lower view counts. This opportunity for additional income has attracted interest among younger users as a potential side hustle.
Toss's strategy of offering substantial rewards for short-form content aims to enhance its shopping competitiveness while increasing app engagement time. By securing content that has already proven popular on social media, Toss seeks to accumulate user response data and encourage users to consume products and content simultaneously on the same screen. The implementation of an infinite scroll feature in the shopping feed is also seen as a tactic to extend users' content consumption time.
A Toss representative stated, "Integrating short-form content into the shopping feed is an experimental attempt to make Toss Shopping a more popular service among users. We are focusing on vetting videos that provide entertainment and useful information, excluding advertising and sponsored content to attract user interest."
Other financial platforms are also expanding mini-games and reward content to increase user engagement time. KakaoPay operates mini-games within its app, rewarding users with points for playing games for over 30 seconds or for frequent visits. Naver Pay encourages app access through event-based games like 'Lucky Ball' and a point-earning character development service called 'New Pay Pet Raising.'
These strategies are showing tangible results. According to the mobile index from IGAWorks, Toss recorded an average of 21.84 million monthly active users (MAU) in the first half of this year, ranking first in the financial and banking sector. KakaoPay reached a record high of 11.87 million MAU in May, while Naver Pay saw a 15% increase to 6.53 million MAU compared to the previous year.
Industry analysts suggest that the competitive landscape for financial platforms is shifting from traditional services like remittances and payments to content-driven competition. The longer users stay on the app, the higher the likelihood of connecting them to core financial services such as shopping, savings, loans, and investments.
An industry insider remarked, "In the future, survival in the financial market will depend on platform competition, and the race to secure user engagement time will become even more intense."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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