Financial Technology
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has decided to nurture the financial technology (fintech) industry next year as one of its major priorities. Previously, the FSC made a plan to establish measures to support the convergence of IT with the finance sector early next year. Hence, the government is expected to move forward with measures to foster the fintech industry and ease regulations.
“One of the government's core projects is a revolution in fintech,” remarked FSC Chairman Shin Jae-yoon at a policy symposium in Seoul on Dec. 8. He added, “From now on, we will push forward with a revolution in fintech.”
The chairman suggested three preconditions for revitalizing the fintech sector. He said, “To summarize the direction of a revolution in IT, first of all, we should put consumers first.” He added, “Second, financial security is our first priority. We should try hard to eliminate any blind spot in supervision. Finally, we also need to be extremely careful not to cause damage to financial systems resulting from the revitalization of the fintech industry.”
Financial authorities are likely to come up with measures to foster the fintech sector through a consultation body of IT and finance industries. The country's top financial regulator established the consultation body on Nov. 10, holding the first meeting. In addition to officials at the FSC and the Financial Supervisory Service, representatives of Samsung Electronics, Daum Kakao, KT, LG CNS, Korea Cyber Payment, eBay Korea, SK Planet, Hana Bank, Mirae Asset Securities, Shinhan Card, AhnLab, INCA Internet, the Bank of Korea, the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, the Korea Development Institute, and the Financial Security Agency also participated in the event.
The FSC is going to announce measures to support the convergence of IT with the finance sector early next year, based on discussions at the consultation body and research results. Therefore, better cooperation between financial and IT companies and the launch of new services are expected next year.