Financial Supervisory Service Holds On-Site Dispute Mediation Meetings in Regional Areas

Regional Dispute Complaints Continue to Rise
Agency Visits Local Areas to Urge Prevention of Dispute Complaints

The Financial Supervisory Service announced that from November 3 to November 21, it will visit the regions of Busan, Gyeongnam, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, and Gangwon to hold dispute mediation meetings.

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to meet with consumer protection officers (CCOs) from local banks and regional headquarters in each area, and to conduct roundtable discussions focused on small business owners and low-income residents.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the proportion of dispute complaints filed in regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area has been rapidly increasing every year, rising from 18.5% at the end of 2022 to 31.6% in the first half of this year. In response, the agency is directly visiting major regions each year to request cooperation in preventing dispute complaints.

This year’s meetings will cover measures to prevent complaints, such as reviewing and improving financial product sales practices and sharing major dispute cases. The agency also plans to strengthen fair and prompt complaint handling through guidance on standardized fact-checking responses and on-site complaint investigations.

An official from the Financial Supervisory Service stated, “We plan to listen to voices from the field through on-site meetings and complaint investigations,” and emphasized, “For matters requiring institutional improvement, we will thoroughly review them from the perspective of financial consumers and actively reflect them in consumer protection work.”