[Exclusive] Card Company Call Center Staff Decrease by About 500 Annually... Counselors Face Layoff 'Crisis' [Bbaengbbaengi AI Call Center]⑤

Obtained Data on Call Center Workforce of 8 Card Companies
As of End of May, 10,000 Employees... 19% Decrease Compared to 5 Years Ago
Equivalent to an Average Annual Reduction of 469 Employees

Editor's Note“It’s a ‘person,’ not AI, dear customer. How can I assist you?”
Call centers are places everyone has used at least once, and financial company call centers used to have agents who kindly answered calls and solved problems. However, they have gradually become inconvenient places for financial consumers. With the emergence of incomplete 'Artificial Intelligence (AI) consultation services,' the problem-solving process and time experienced by financial consumers have actually been delayed. This is the irony that has arisen as banks, card companies, and other financial sectors replace human call center agents with AI consultation services. Accordingly, Asia Economy aims to look into the inside story of financial company call centers from various perspectives, including financial consumers and workers.

Over the past five years, the number of call center agents at major domestic card companies has decreased by about 2,300. This phenomenon has emerged as AI-based consultation services have expanded in the financial sector. As AI becomes more advanced, the space for call center agents is narrowing. There are concerns that this trend will further increase the inconvenience for financial consumers who are vulnerable to digital technology.

According to data on the 'Call Center Workforce Status' from the Financial Supervisory Service obtained by Asia Economy on the 7th through the office of Park Sang-hyuk, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party, the number of call center agents at eight domestic card companies (Shinhan, Hyundai, Samsung, KB Kookmin, Lotte, Woori, BC, Hana) was counted at 10,090 as of the end of May. This is a decrease of 2,346 agents (19%) compared to the end of 2019, five years ago. Simply calculated, this means an average annual reduction of 469 call center agents from the end of 2019 to the end of last May.

Disappearing Human Agents

In fact, the number of call center agents at card companies has shown a decreasing trend every year except for last year (10,258 agents): 2019 (12,436 agents) → 2020 (11,033 agents) → 2021 (10,408 agents) → 2022 (10,132 agents). Considering that the number counted up to May this year is about 10,090, it is possible that the number will fall below 10,000 by the end of this year.

Looking at each card company, KB Kookmin Card had 1,482 agents as of the end of May, a decrease of 716 compared to 2019, marking the largest reduction among the eight card companies. KB Financial Group is focusing company-wide efforts on AI financial assistants, including chatbots.

Shinhan Card, the industry leader, also saw a reduction of 674 agents compared to five years ago, and Samsung Card's number of agents decreased by 346. Following are Lotte Card (184), Hana Card (164), Woori Card (139), BC Card (100), and Hyundai Card (23), with all eight card companies experiencing a decrease in the number of agents during the same period.

For banks, whose main customers are middle-aged and older adults, the atmosphere was less severe than that of card companies, but the number of agents also decreased. The number of agents at the five major banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, NH Nonghyup) was 5,209 as of the end of May, a decrease of 155 compared to the end of last year and 229 compared to the end of 2019.

Mass Layoff Crisis... Inconvenience for Elderly and Other Consumers 'Intensifies'

The financial sector is heavily investing in replacing agents with AI. This is because it can avoid labor issues related to mostly outsourced agents and reduce labor costs in the long term. A senior official at a commercial bank said, "We have significantly reduced consultation staff by introducing AI," adding, "We plan to continue investing billions of won in AI in the future." Companies are cutting staff because they have already invested additional costs in AI.

KB Kookmin Bank reduced the number of outsourcing companies for six call centers to four last December and sent layoff notices to about 240 agents affiliated with them. The reason was that the number of calls to the call center decreased due to the increase in AI consultations. Although the issue was temporarily resolved as the laid-off workers were rehired following union opposition, the industry views this incident as the beginning of structural adjustments for call center agents. Ban Soon-geum, head of the KB Kookmin Bank Call Center branch of the Public Transport Union at Hyosung ITX, said, "The layoff issue has been settled for now, but no new hires are being made," adding, "Although the number of calls has decreased due to AI, complicated calls are concentrated, so more professional agents are needed."

In particular, most agents who are the closest contact points to financial consumers are 'non-affiliated workers' employed through outsourcing companies, so they are always in a blind spot. According to our investigation, some card companies excluded call center employees from the count of non-affiliated workers in their business reports to avoid controversies related to employment. It is also understood that the Financial Supervisory Service does not officially count call center employees.

As the number of agents decreases, inconvenience for financial consumers, including the elderly, is intensifying. Asia Economy conducted a panel survey of 500 men and women nationwide (aged 19 to 69) through the polling agency Embrain from the 12th to the 16th of last month. The results showed that 39.4% of respondents were dissatisfied with AI consultation services. Among the reasons for dissatisfaction, 34% said that using AI services was complicated and difficult. Especially among those in their 60s, more than 40% responded that AI services were difficult.

Regarding this, a senior official from the financial authorities said, "The trend of replacement by AI seems unavoidable," but added, "Financial companies need to consider ways to increase inclusiveness for the elderly from the perspective of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) management." The Financial Supervisory Service plans to improve procedures so that elderly customers can easily communicate with general agents as well as AI consultations when using financial company customer centers.