Lee Eog-weon, chairperson of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), said on the 4th, "To ease consumer inconvenience from bank branch closures, we will prepare a 'bank branch closure response plan' and begin full implementation in March," adding, "To ensure financial access for consumers living outside metropolitan cities, we will expand point deductions in the community reinvestment assessment when branches are closed in areas outside metropolitan cities."
At the "financial field messenger roundtable" held at Government Complex Seoul on the day, the chairperson heard opinions on the bank branch closure response plan and stated accordingly.
The financial authorities plan to add indicators related to banks' efforts to maintain or open branches not only in the community reinvestment assessment but also in the consumer protection status assessment. The financial authorities said, "The results of the community reinvestment assessment are used in selecting local government treasury banks," adding, "We will ensure that banks that maintain branches receive a more favorable evaluation."
The financial authorities decided to mandate prior impact assessments for consolidations or integrations of branches within a 1-kilometer radius, except when the consumer travel distance does not change, such as integrating branches within the same building. A new criterion will also be introduced, deeming the impact high if the distance to the nearest branch exceeds 10 kilometers and reliance on in-person services is above average.
Field messengers who took part in the roundtable proposed 60 tasks, including clarifying the conditions for lifting exclusions in no-liability insurance contracts, bearing foreign exchange losses when overseas credit card payments are canceled, and the inconvenience of using accounts with limit restrictions. The financial authorities took action on nine of them, accepted or conditionally accepted 26, decided to review nine in the mid to long term, and did not accept the remaining 16.
The chairperson said a Financial Consumer Policy Evaluation Committee will be formed in the first quarter of this year to create an institutional foundation for consumers to directly evaluate financial policy. The chairperson said, "We will establish a new institutional framework for financial consumer protection, including one-sided binding force in small-amount disputes and a Korea-style fair fund," adding, "We will improve financial companies' short-term performance-driven sales practices."