The Financial Supervisory Service said on the 20th that first-half revenue in the electronic finance industry reached 5.5 trillion won, up 10% from a year earlier. By sector, payment gateway (PG) services came to 4.1 trillion won, and prepaid electronic payment instrument issuance and management to 1.1 trillion won. Electronic finance companies are non-financial institutions that provide financial services using information and communications technology.
Out of the total 38.1 trillion won in revenue at all companies registered for electronic finance, the share from electronic finance revenue was tallied at 14.4%. That is because many electronic finance operators also run other businesses such as e-commerce or telecommunications. Gross profit was 1.7 trillion won, up 6.2%. By sector, PG was about 1 trillion won and prepaid about 700 billion won.
As of the end of June, the number of companies registered for electronic finance was 233, up by 26. As of the end of June, combined balances at payment gateways (PG) and in prepaid stood at a total of 15 trillion won. PG balances were 10.2 trillion won and prepaid balances 4.8 trillion won, each up 4.2%.
The number of companies not complying with the management guidance standards increased to 38. Among the newly noncompliant, six companies had been registered for less than a year. However, those companies' electronic finance revenue is not large, and their PG and prepaid balances are also small compared with the total. The average revenue of noncompliant companies was 2.1 billion won, below the overall average of 25.7 billion won.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to step up inspections for the sound growth of the electronic finance industry by demanding management improvement plans from noncompliant companies and holding meetings with management.
If the amendment to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act pending in the National Assembly passes, new authorities such as the Financial Services Commission (FSC)'s power to request measures against noncompliant companies will be established, so the plan is to sufficiently inform the industry of the institutional changes and support measures to ensure regulatory compliance.