FSC promotes fintech and innovation in financial services. In order to encourage convergence and collaboration between finance and information technology, FSC launched the financial regulatory sandbox scheme in April 2019, through which more than one hundred ‘innovative financial services’ have been designated. The regulatory sandbox program allows fintechs and start-ups to test out their ideas without worrying about the regulatory impediments. In addition, Korea’s open banking system was fully launched in December 2019, opening up payment networks to both banks and fintechs through a joint network. By creating a financial data exchange platform, fostering MyData industry and opening up extensive sets of public financial data stored at major public institutions, FSC is also working to create an environment where big data and AI can play a larger role in finance. Policies intended to promote innovation also include providing tailored support to the Korean fintech firms to help them grow and scale up as global unicorns by easing regulations, expanding investment and providing assistance for overseas business expansion.
-
Sep 08, 2021
-
Jul 29, 2021
-
Jul 28, 2021
- Open Banking Service Availability to be Expanded
- With 23 open banking participating fintechs making available their data about customers prepaid deposit balances for open banking, open banking users will be able to access information about their prepaid deposit accounts from mobile applications of major banks or any other open banking offering financial institutions beginning from July 30, 2021. Open banking has expanded rapidly since its first launch in December 2019 as the cumulative number of subscribers reaching more than 89.7 million with about 166.8 million accounts registered as of July 25, 2021. The FSC has worked on gradually expanding the availability of open banking services from more types of financial institutions. As a result, open banking services are now available from about 110 banks, fintechs, mutual finance firms, savings banks, securities firms, credit card companies and the Korea Post. Along with the account balance inquiry and wire transfer functions as well as checking monthly statements for credit cards that have been already in service, users can now access information about their prepaid deposit accounts from any mobile application of their choosing. The authorities will continue to work for advancement of open banking and seek ways to promote the development of an open finance platform, while continuing to work on ensuring system security. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
-
Jul 22, 2021
- FSC Selects Eight More 'Innovative Financial Services' for Financial Regulatory Sandbox
- The FSC decided to designate eight more financial solutions as innovative financial services at its regular meeting held on July 21. This brings the total number of designated services to 153 since the regulatory sandbox program was first launched on April 1, 2019. Overview of Newly Added Innovative Financial Services 1. A real-name identification and verification service using facial recognition technologies which allows consumers to visit bank branches and use financial services without presenting their ID cards (Daegu Bank, expected in Apr. 2022) 2. A real-name identification and verification service using facial recognition technologies for checking customers personal identification in contactless settings, which will allow customers to open up bank accounts even after the banks regular work hours (Busan Bank, expected in Oct. 2021) 3~5. Online-based telemarketing insurance subscription services using mobile devices that reduce the hassle of reading and recording scripts for insurance telemarketers while still guaranteeing supplemental measures for consumer protection (Toss Insurance, DB Insurance and NongHyup Life Insurance, expected in Oct. 2021, Feb. 2022 and Mar. 2022, respectively) 6~7. QR code enabled credit card payment services which require no physical point-of-service (POS) terminal for businesses to process credit card payments which will help improve convenience for consumers while allowing more small-scale businesses to adopt mobile simply payment methods (Seeroo Information and Paycoq, both expected in H1 2022) 8. A non-recourse accounts receivable factoring service which assumes the risk of buyers failure to honor payment obligations in place of the seller, thereby helping firms with new technologies to raise funds and carry out business operations in a more stable manner (Korea Technology Finance Corporation, expected in Jun. 2022) * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
-
Jul 13, 2021
-
Jul 08, 2021
-
Jun 29, 2021
-
Jun 24, 2021
-
Jun 24, 2021
- 2021 Korea Fintech Week Brings About Tangible Outcome for Fintech Advancement
- The 2021 Korea Fintech Week has attracted about 250,000 online visitors so far since its opening on May 26. The offline to online availability of diverse opportunities for exhibition, education, investment and employment has provided important venues for fintechs, financial companies, relevant institutions and individuals seeking jobs in the industry. Through offline IR events and virtual meetings, 29 fintechs were able to attract investments in the amount of about KRW133.7 billion. A total of 54 fintechs, financial companies and relevant institutions participated in the online job fair through which up to 175 individuals will be given job opportunities in fintech or finance sectors. In this years event, 39 foreign-based fintechs, financial companies and investors from 13 different countries participated in online exhibitions, which provided opportunities for global cooperation and overseas expansion. The Korea Fintech Week also featured many expert speakers providing latest trends in the global fintech industry and relevant policy issues. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
-
Jun 17, 2021
-
Jun 16, 2021
-
Jun 10, 2021
-
Jun 09, 2021
-
May 31, 2021
-
May 31, 2021
- Open Banking Available from Credit Card Companies
- The FSC announced that open banking service will be available from mobile applications of major credit card companies starting from May 31. Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori card companies will make their open banking services available from May 31, with Lotte, Samsung, Hyundai and Hana card companies expected to join from June to August this year. Open banking was launched in December 2019 and has become widely in use. It has attracted some 80.2 million users cumulatively with more than 146.6 million accounts registered as of May 24, 2021. With credit card companies now offering open banking services, consumers are able to check their account balances and make mobile money transfers by using mobile applications of credit card companies while checking their monthly credit card usage on a banking application. Credit card companies will need to offer a more integrated financial service platform that provides the function of balance inquiry and mobile money transfer beyond their traditional payment-related services. In a similar vein, banks will now be able to develop a more customer-oriented business model that offers analysis on spending patterns, etc. Beyond open banking, the FSC will pursue open finance, a mutual opening up of finance-related services by financial sectors and fintechs through standardized mechanisms. The authorities will continue to work on making improvements to open banking by exploring potential links to new services and other industries and seeking ways to expand open banking services and its functions. * Please refer to the attached PDF for details.
-
May 26, 2021
- FSC Plans to Improve Rules to Promote Big Data Analytics in Financial Sectors
- The FSC announced its plan for improving rules on data convergence of anonymized and pseudonymized data in financial sectors on May 26 with an aim to further promote big data analytics in financial sectors. With the revised Credit Information Use and Protection Act taking effect on August 5, 2020, data convergence through big data analytics became possible through one of the four government-designated data specializing institutions. As of May 25, 2021, 41 cases of data convergence have been completed on 111 pieces of data by data specializing institutions. A total of 46 financial and non-financial companies have participated by providing their data and 35 companies have received the converged data for analysis and use. The converged data are being used for developing more convenient financial services for diverse types of consumers, introducing new technologies and services and more closely analyzing policy outcomes and improving policies. Against this backdrop, the FSC plans to work on the following measures to further advance big data analytics in financial sectors. Key Measures First, the FSC plans to increase the number of designated institutions that specialize in data convergence in the second half of this year to make it possible the provision of more specialized data convergence services and open up more types of data from businesses and public institutions. Second, the FSC plans to ease some of the restrictions placed on data convergence between a data specializing institution and a third party entity. Currently, data convergence between data stored at a data specializing institution and that provided by a third party is only permitted when the converged data is for use by a third party under the condition that there is no potential conflict of interests in using the converged data. The FSC plans to ease this restriction to allow data convergence and use by the same entity in a way that still prevents conflicts of interests. Third, the Credit Information Us
-
May 26, 2021
- 2021 Korea Fintech Week
- The 3rd Korea Fintech Week will be held virtually as well as off-line from May 26 to 28. The three-day event will feature off-line sessions including an opening ceremony, IR meetings and idea contests, and online exhibitions. The off-line events will be live streaming via www.fintechweek.or.kr/2021. (Offline Sessions) Off-line sessions will start with an opening ceremony at 10 am on May 26, providing opportunities for fintech businesses to share fintech trends at home and abroad, showcase innovative fintech services and attract investments. In his welcoming remarks, FSC Chairman Eun Sung-soo introduces Koreas progress in fintech policy and future plans. Regulatory reforms enabled new data business such as MyData and the rollout of 82 innovative financial services for two years via the financial regulatory sandbox. The government will continue its efforts to boost fintech growth and digital innovation in finance by allowing fitech startups to operate D-testbed and easing regulations on financial institutions to facilitate their investment in fintech businesses. Chairman Eun emphasizes that financial stability is as important as innovation and pledged to enable more people to share the outcomes of financial innovation more safely. The opening ceremony also features congratulatory remarks by Yoon Kwan-seok, Chairman of the National Policy Committee and Zhou Liang, Vice Chairman of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission; and keynote speeches by Michael Danagher, Canadian Ambassador to Korea and James Kim, Chairman CEO of AMCHAM Korea. (Online Sessions) Online events and exhibitions will be available from 10 am on May 26 at www.fintechweek.or.kr/2021. The online expo offers virtual booths, virtual one-on-one meetings between fintechs and investors, and online job fair, etc. (Special Session on Green Finance) This years Fintech Week features a special session on green finance both online and offline to promote the 2021 P4G Seoul Summit scheduled for May 30-31.
-
May 17, 2021
- FSC Announces Plan to Promote the Use of Digital and Contactless Insurance Sales Mechanisms
- The FSC announced a plan to improve rules on insurance business in order to promote the use of digital, AI-based and contactless insurance sales mechanisms as part of the broader aim to boost consumer confidence and promote innovation in the insurance industry. Insurance sales channels face structure changes amid an expansion of contactless services and digital technologies, increasing number of platform businesses entering the market and the growth of general agencies (GAs). To improve the effectiveness of consumer protection while removing some of the inefficiencies observed in the current insurance sales practices, the authorities have prepared the following plan for changing the rules on insurance sales mechanisms. Key Details A. Face-to-Face Sales - Previously, insurance agents and brokers were required to meet customers face-to-face at least once to explain coverage details. However, with the telemarketing safeguard measures in place, such as the requirements for recording and confirmation by insurers, sellers are allowed to provide explanations via telephone calls. (rule change completed on Mar 25, 2021) - When subscribing for an insurance coverage using a mobile phone, customers faced the inconvenience of having to put their signature multiple times throughout the process. This electronic signature requirement will be reduced down to only once at the beginning of the subscription process to improve convenience. (further improvements expected within May 2021) B. Telemarketing - With the use of the text-to-speech AI-based technology, insurance agents and brokers will no longer have to read the entire sales script that usually took about thirty minutes to finish. With the AI-based voicebot, the salesperson is able to instead focus on answering questions from the customer and providing supplemental information. (implementation expected in Q3 2021) - Previously, telemarketing and mobile sales mechanisms remained two distinct sales channels. However, a hybrid sale
-
May 12, 2021
-
Apr 29, 2021