BOK-FSC conflict intensifies over control of settlement payment system
By Anna J. Park
A conflict appears to be intensifying between the central bank and financial watchdog over control of the country s settlement payment system after the Bank of Korea (BOK) denounced a proposed revision to the nation s Electronic Transactions Act as being the only Big Brother law in the world.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the BOK strongly condemned the revisions to the e-commerce transactions act proposed by the ruling party s three-term lawmaker Youn Kwan-suk, which curtails the central bank s role in the national payment settlement system. The revised bill is obviously a Big Brother law. If the revision is passed, the FSC will be able to collect information on every transaction made at big tech companies, such as Naver, through the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute (KFTC), the BOK said.
By Lee Kyung-min
Korea s leading commercial banks are introducing new apps with integrated financial services, in a move to better compete with their Internet-only fintech rivals defined by higher user satisfaction due to faster, easier and simpler app operation.
Commercial banks collective efforts toward digitization, however, are set to fall further behind, since less-motivated, traditional lenders lack the technological means to realize speedy app operation, something fintech service providers are bound to excel at via the healthy feedback loops of day-to-day fixes, following constant trial and error.
No immediate consumer convenience is expected either through Open Banking or MyData, two key data-driven policy initiatives spearheaded by the Financial Services Commission (FSC). The reason is that while the system supposedly facilitates integration of the services of multiple financial groups, it fails to incentivize cooperation among these market players highly anxious about