"Waiting for 1 Hour"... Bank App Errors Surge Amid Soaring Youth Hope Savings Account Sign-Ups

Subscription for Youth Hope Savings Starts at 9:30 AM on the 21st
Various Errors Occur Amid Customer Surge Despite 5-Day Rotation System
Eligible Customers Complain "Might Have to Visit Bank Branch"
Will Youth Hope Savings Continue Early Sell-Out Trend?

At 9:30 a.m. on the 21st, when subscription for the Youth Hope Savings began, despite the implementation of a five-day subscription system, a large number of applicants flooded in, causing frequent errors in bank applications and waiting times exceeding one hour. Photo by Reader Provided.

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] The Youth Hope Savings, launched by financial authorities, has caused confusion from the very first day of enrollment. Tens of thousands of people accessed the apps of each bank, resulting in wait times exceeding one hour. Some bank applications also experienced service interruptions due to increased traffic volume.

According to the financial sector on the 21st, enrollment for Youth Hope Savings began at 9:30 a.m. nationwide at 11 banks. To disperse customers, a '5-day system' was implemented, and on this day, those born in 1991, 1996, and 2001 were eligible to apply. From 30 minutes before the enrollment time, keywords like 'Youth' and 'Hope Savings' ranked high in major app search terms, indicating a surge of customers hoping to enroll.

As applicants surged, errors frequently occurred in bank apps. At Bank A, customers who accessed the app and started waiting before enrollment began were unable to check MyData, notices, and event pages. A representative from the bank explained, "The traffic volume was much higher than expected due to the implementation of Youth Hope Savings."

At 9:30 a.m. on the 21st, when subscription for the Youth Hope Savings began, despite the implementation of a five-day subscription system, a large number of applicants flooded in, causing frequent errors in bank applications and waiting times exceeding one hour. Photo by Reader Provided.

Errors continued even after enrollment started. At Bank B, for more than 20 minutes after enrollment began, an error prevented users from proceeding to the Hope Savings enrollment page. The error messages alternated between "A temporary error occurred during transaction processing" and "Please contact the system administrator." At Bank C, even when using the preview service, users encountered a "An error occurred while generating the image" message, preventing enrollment. Document creation errors also frequently occurred during the electronic signature process.

Soju-min (26, pseudonym), who hoped to apply that day, said, "I set an alarm 30 minutes early and tried to apply through the bank app, but after connecting, the banner wouldn't click and only an error image appeared." She added, "I gave up and switched to another bank, but only the enrollment window and identity verification were available, and after that, it was completely unresponsive." Kim Ji-hyun (26, pseudonym) also said, "In a group chat with friends of the same age, there were questions about whether anyone succeeded in applying, but no one had." She added, "I think the quota will run out, so I plan to visit the bank during lunch break."

At 9:30 a.m. on the 21st, when subscription for the Youth Hope Savings began, despite the implementation of a five-day subscription system, a large number of applicants flooded in, causing frequent errors in bank applications and waiting times exceeding one hour. Photo by Reader Provided.

Wait times were also found to exceed one hour. At Bank D, as non-face-to-face applicants surged, the expected wait time extended to 1 hour and 10 minutes. The number of people waiting exceeded 4,000. Most used the preview service, and considering the waiting number is real-time, the actual number of applicants is estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

With the surge in applicants, the remaining four days are also expected to see the allocated quota sold out quickly. The number of preview service applications, which allow users to check eligibility for savings enrollment in advance, exceeded 1.5 million at the five major banks. When combined with six other banks including IBK Industrial Bank, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Jeonbuk, and Jeju Banks, the total is estimated to approach 2 million.

"Might have to go to the bank at lunch"... Will Youth Hope Savings Sell Out Early?

At 9:30 a.m. on the 21st, when subscription for the Youth Hope Savings began, despite the implementation of a five-day subscription system, a large number of applicants flooded in, causing frequent errors in bank applications and waiting times exceeding one hour. Photo by Reader Provided.

Considering this, many applicants are expected to be rejected during the Youth Hope Savings enrollment screening due to early quota exhaustion. The budget allocated for the Youth Hope Savings project is 45.6 billion KRW. Assuming 2 million applicants and that everyone deposits the total monthly amount of 500,000 KRW, only 380,000 people can be enrolled. This means 4 out of 5 applicants may be rejected.

Initially, financial authorities and related organizations stated that this could not be predicted. They explained that there could be duplicate applications for the preview service and that not all applicants would apply for 500,000 KRW. A financial sector official hinted, "If the exact number of people who applied for the preview service is disclosed, it could increase consumer anxiety and attract even more customers, so disclosure is difficult."