Financial Supervision Bureau, promote increasing the refund rate of prepaid electronic payment methods and improve securities company services

The Financial Supervisory Service recently decided to increase the refund ratio for prepaid electronic payment methods and improve the fee-based stock information services provided by securities firms. These measures aim to strengthen the rights and interests of financial consumers and reflect the recommendations issued by the Financial Consumer Protection Advisory Committee on March 8.

This initiative is part of six consumer protection topics discussed at the first meeting of the Financial Consumer Protection Advisory Committee held on March 6. The committee is the highest advisory body established to enhance regulation from the perspective of financial consumers, composed of 17 members including six internal members and eleven external experts. FSS Director Lee Bok-keun emphasized the meaning of “foundations give rise to virtues” during the launch ceremony and described it as an important opportunity to shift toward a consumer-centered financial regulatory system.

Specifically, to effectively guide consumers regarding prepaid electronic payment methods like PayMoney, plans include clearly informing consumers about important matters such as expiration dates and improving related terms. The goal is to provide at least three guidance sessions before the expiration date to help consumers understand the deposit refund ratios more easily. Additionally, in coordination with the Fair Trade Commission’s revision of standard terms, plans are underway to increase the cash refund ratio to 95% and the points refund ratio to 100%.

For securities firms, efforts are also underway to improve the fee structure and customer guidance procedures for stock information services. Currently, there are concerns that including fees for services like individual stock recommendations within commission trading fees may cause consumer confusion, so discussions are ongoing to clarify these arrangements. This issue involves approximately 74,000 users across five securities companies and annual fee revenues of up to 3.73 trillion won.

Notably, there are also efforts to strengthen internal controls for insurance products during the product development stage and to establish a comprehensive assessment system for inclusive financial efforts within the banking sector. In particular, discussions include granting veto rights to the head of financial consumer protection. These initiatives will be advanced alongside plans to shorten the current assessment cycle for financial consumer protection and to enhance AI-based monitoring of illegal advertisements.

This trend is likely to promote stronger consumer rights and increased transparency in financial services in the future. The FSS plans to continue convening advisory committee meetings to gather feedback and to undertake substantive institutional improvements.