Financial Authorities Begin Discussing Implementation Plans
Small Businesses Protest "Concentration on Large Companies"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] With the implementation of MyData (personal credit information verification service) just 80 days away, the Financial Services Commission is accelerating coordination efforts with the industry. A key issue is the plan to limit each consumer to signing up with fewer than five providers. The financial authorities argue that storing sensitive personal information in multiple places increases the risk of data leaks. However, companies operating MyData services strongly oppose this, saying that users may concentrate only on a few large firms.
According to the financial industry on the 17th, the Financial Services Commission is expected to begin coordinating regulatory adjustments through the MyData Task Force (TF) meeting as early as this week. The MyData TF operates separate subgroups for service providers and information providers to ensure effective management, and after gathering opinions, representatives from each TF participate to discuss major issues. So far, the TF has focused on topics such as the number of services a consumer can subscribe to, the scope of private certificate acceptance, and whether to display transaction details.
The core issue among these is the limitation on the number of services. The financial authorities are considering restricting the number of MyData services to 3 to 5 per consumer. MyData is a service that allows individuals to manage their scattered personal credit information in one place of their choice. Since sensitive credit information is integrated and managed, the authorities believe that limiting the number of services is necessary to reduce the risk of potentially fatal data breaches.
On the other hand, most private companies are opposing this. They are concerned that limiting the number of services will make it difficult for smaller or lesser-known providers to be chosen by consumers.
A senior official from a financial company said, "If the number of service subscriptions is limited, customers will flock to a few large financial companies and big tech firms. Ultimately, a project that started to give equal opportunities to all providers could end up handing over data and customers only to large companies."
The issue of displaying transaction details is also critical. The fintech industry is opposing the expectation that transaction details, which refer to remitter and recipient information, will be excluded from the scope of information provision. If transaction details are excluded, the date and amount of account transactions can be confirmed, but the transaction counterpart cannot be known. For example, if A sends 100,000 won to B, it would be displayed as "Sent 100,000 won to (unknown)." A fintech industry official said, "Currently, many services provide transaction details through household account books or deposit/withdrawal management services. If excluded, users will not receive the information they originally had, which could be a regression in service."
Meanwhile, regarding the controversial mandatory use of the joint certificate, it has recently been reported that the financial authorities are leaning toward allowing private certificates as an integrated authentication method for MyData services.
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