"Resident Registration Cards Still Unusable" Concerns Grow Over Prolonged Disruptions to Banking Services

Aftermath of the National Information Resources Service Fire Continues
Disruptions to Some Financial Services Expected to Persist
Full Restoration Likely to Take Time

On the night of the 27th, at the fire scene of the National Information Resources Service in Yuseong District, Daejeon, a firefighter is placing a fire-damaged lithium-ion battery into a fire water tank. Photo by Yonhap News

Three days have passed since the fire at the National Information Resources Service, but disruptions to certain banking services, including non-face-to-face account opening, loan screening, and identity verification, continue. As it may take considerable time for the system to be fully restored, public inconvenience is expected to persist for the time being. With the end of the month-a period of increased financial activity-coinciding with the upcoming Chuseok holiday, the entire financial sector is on emergency alert, focusing all efforts on minimizing customer inconvenience.

According to the financial sector on September 29, although the government has begun restoration work following the fire at the National Information Resources Service on the night of September 26, it is still impossible to use a resident registration card for banking services. This is because identity verification through the government computer network using a resident registration card is currently unavailable due to the fire. However, physical driver’s licenses, mobile identification cards (resident registration card or driver’s license) issued before the incident, passports, and alien registration cards can still be used.

As a result, for services requiring identity verification-such as opening or closing an account or applying for a mortgage loan-customers must submit a driver’s license or other acceptable identification instead of a resident registration card. With the administrative computer network down, public MyData and the National Secretary services are also unavailable, so those applying for certain loan products must submit physical income verification documents.

An official at a commercial bank stated, "Since it will take some time to restore the system, we recommend that customers with urgent banking needs visit a branch in person, even though it may be inconvenient."

The impact is even greater for internet-only banks, which do not have physical branches. Some loan products at these banks have been suspended. KakaoBank currently only allows account opening and card issuance with a driver’s license or mobile identification card, and for mortgage and jeonse loans, customers must submit images of physical documents for loan screening instead of using public MyData.

Toss Bank and K Bank temporarily suspended some loan products immediately after the fire, but all loans have now returned to normal. A Toss Bank representative said, "We are working to ensure that any restored services are 'immediately reflected' to minimize inconvenience for our customers."

With customer losses anticipated, financial authorities are holding daily response meetings and preparing countermeasures. The Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service held emergency meetings with related organizations throughout the weekend to assess the situation and discuss responses. Kwon Daeyoung, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, urged the financial sector to respond proactively, stating, "Even if financial companies take active measures to protect consumers, we will consider flexible application of non-action letters and other measures to ensure they do not face disadvantages afterward."

Despite these efforts, it is expected to take considerable time for financial services to be fully restored. According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, as of 10 p.m. the previous day, the overall service restoration rate stood at only 4.6 percent. Some predict that it may take more than two weeks for a complete recovery.