[Asia Exclusive] Shin Hyun-jun "Korea's MyData is the World's Best, Major Countries Are Watching"

To Succeed in MyData, Utilization and Security Must Be Harmonized
'Data Safety' Is an Essential 'Prerequisite'
"Standardization of Tasks Among Data Specialized Institutions Is Also Necessary"

Shin Hyun-jun, Director of Shin Hyun Information Center

[Interview = Lee Chohee, Asia Economy Finance Department Reporter, Summary = Song Seungseop Reporter]"Korea's financial personal credit information management business (MyData) is prepared at the highest level in the world in both quantity and quality and will be implemented. For the MyData industry to settle and continuously grow, it is most important to balance the expansion of data utilization and the assurance of safety."

On the 20th, Shin Hyunjun, President of the Credit Information Service, stated in an interview with Asia Economy that Korea's current MyData level is "watched by major overseas countries" and emphasized this. He cited the harmony of innovation and security as the long-term success factors of the MyData industry.

MyData is an innovative service that collects and manages my financial information scattered across various financial companies in one place. A key feature is that customers independently decide what information to provide. Financial companies can use customer information to offer various services that were previously difficult to provide. Representative examples include anonymously sharing the portfolio of a financial expert or a service that tells you how much money you need to hold the wedding you want.

"MyData Success Requires Safe Use of Data"

President Shin emphasized data safety throughout the interview. He explained, "Safe use of data is a prerequisite that must be guaranteed for the success of MyData," adding, "If information leakage or misuse occurs in the early stages of the industry, it will be impossible to secure public trust, which is a key factor for industry settlement."

He continued, "MyData participating institutions must obligatorily establish ‘data governance’ covering the entire data lifecycle from creation, storage, utilization, to disposal," and "supervisory authorities and support institutions also need to organize various laws, regulations, and detailed rules regarding information protection and services." This implies that industry participants must continuously strive for security, just as the MyData guidelines are set in detail and improved.

He also mentioned the importance of advanced technology for security. Until now, the financial sector has used screen scraping to collect information from other companies. Screen scraping is a method where, with prior consent, a financial company accesses the customer's authentication information and retrieves data from other companies. Although convenient, it is vulnerable in terms of security and thus prohibited for use in the MyData business.

President Shin stressed, "It is important to continuously introduce and operate security safeguards using advanced technologies such as strong identity verification for non-face-to-face real-name confirmation."

He also presented essential conditions for expanding data usability. He advised, "Financial companies must create innovative value-added services not limited to the financial sector," and "actively seek linkage and convergence with heterogeneous data such as healthcare-related services, education, culture, and sports."

Additionally, he said, "Mobile applications and processes should be simplified or designed intuitively," and "it is necessary to develop and provide a user environment that meets customer needs, and efforts to promptly respond to and improve inconveniences occurring at each usage stage must be supported."

"Standardization of Formats and Technologies Among Data Institutions Is Needed"

When asked about the role of the Credit Information Service in the MyData industry, he identified it as a support institution backing seamless success. President Shin said, "The Credit Information Service acts as the general secretary in the MyData Special Task Force, which includes the Financial Services Commission, Financial Supervisory Service, Financial Security Institute, and sectoral associations," and "plans to monitor major issues arising during the pilot service period and support the full-scale implementation of MyData in January next year." He also stated, "After various discussions, most financial information with high consumer demand was included in the provision target, and we plan to continuously expand the scope of information that can be provided," adding, "If conflicts or divergences arise among participating institutions in the future, we will effectively coordinate and reach agreements."

He also shared his views on competition and survival strategies among data specialized institutions. Data specialized institutions were established last year as it became important to smoothly combine and process data, a core resource in the digital economy era. Currently, four institutions (Credit Information Service, Financial Security Institute, Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, and National Tax Service) are designated. To encourage data openness and activate the data industry, private companies will also be able to become data specialized institutions starting from the first quarter of next year.

President Shin expressed confidence, saying, "The Credit Information Service is the central hub that distributed financial data," and "based on various experiences and know-how, it holds a leading position as a data specialized institution." He also mentioned, "The Credit Information Service will present precedents to other specialized institutions by actively supporting consulting and other preparations from various stages."

However, he argued that the standards for performing tasks by data specialized institutions must be standardized. Since multiple data specialized institutions are emerging, if procedures or formats differ, users may experience inconvenience. Therefore, President Shin intends to cooperate so that newly entering institutions work in the same environment by standardizing formats and technologies among institutions.

As the Credit Information Service's unique strengths, he cited "continuously performing data combination for public interest purposes and accumulated experience by consulting on technical and legal issues arising in financial institutions," and "having a remote analysis system that allows convenient one-stop use."