Online Deposit Product Comparison and Recommendation Service Launching in Q2 Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] From the second quarter of next year, nine companies will provide online deposit product comparison and recommendation services through the financial regulatory sandbox.

On the 9th, the Financial Services Commission designated the online deposit product brokerage services of nine companies?Shinhan Bank, BankSalad, NHN Payco, Zoom Internet, Gitple, Fink, Viva Republica, Naver Financial, and CB Financial?as innovative financial services.

Through this service, consumers will be able to easily compare deposit products from multiple financial companies and receive recommendations for the optimal products suited to them.

Considering the recent increase in liquidity management difficulties in the financial sector, the financial authorities allowed the service to be launched from the second quarter of next year. Given its pilot operation nature, limits on recruitment through the platform were partially imposed: banks are restricted to within 5% of the previous year's new recruitment amount, and savings banks and credit unions are limited to within 3%.

The financial authorities granted exceptions regarding the registration obligation for financial product sales businesses under the Financial Consumer Protection Act (FCPA) and the exclusive agency obligation regulation between financial companies and intermediaries. Currently, loan, insurance, and financial investment products are regulated under the FCPA or sector-specific laws for brokerage services, but deposit products lack a related regulatory framework. Therefore, before formal institutionalization, an exception was granted to allow online deposit product brokerage services to operate without registration as a financial product sales business. Additionally, although the FCPA prohibits financial product sales businesses from performing brokerage services for more than one financial company for the same type of financial product, considering the characteristics of online platforms, it was allowed to compare and recommend deposit and savings products from multiple financial companies.

A Financial Services Commission official explained, "Consumers will be able to easily search and subscribe to deposit and savings products that meet their desired conditions, enabling smoother asset management. For small and medium-sized financial companies (regional banks, savings banks, etc.), it will be easier to expand deposit business channels through partnerships with platform companies."

Considering financial market stability, the launch timing of the service was set to be after the second quarter of next year in consultation with the Financial Supervisory Service. This decision was made based on the judgment that, given the recent increase in liquidity management difficulties due to rising market interest rates, it is necessary to adjust the launch timing to minimize side effects from the introduction of innovative financial services.

Taking into account the pilot operation through the regulatory sandbox, limits on the sales proportion through the platform by deposit financial companies were imposed. To prevent excessive fund movement, based on the previous year's new deposit and savings recruitment amount, banks are limited to within 5%, and savings banks and credit unions are limited to within 3%.

Additionally, to ensure fair comparison and recommendation, supplementary conditions were imposed, including ▲prior verification of algorithms ▲compliance with brokerage-related regulations under the FCPA ▲preparation of consumer protection measures.

A Financial Services Commission official stated, "For additional applicants beyond the nine companies designated as innovative financial services this time, reviews will be conducted later by the Innovative Finance Review Committee."