Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin said he would speed up institutional improvements to increase financial accessibility for vulnerable groups, including older adults and people with disabilities. As digital finance spreads, he said he would actively reflect on-site feedback in supervision and institutional reforms to ensure no one is left out of financial services.
On the 16th at the Financial Supervisory Service in Yeouido, Seoul, Lee met with about 30 people, including older adults, people with disabilities, consumer groups, financial industry officials and ordinary consumers, at a meeting to hear the voices of financial consumers. In his opening remarks, Lee said, "Finance should not be a stumbling block in everyday life for anyone, but a stepping stone that supports life," and added, "We will directly listen to the inconveniences and difficulties consumers face in the financial field and faithfully reflect them in consumer protection work."
He added, "It is not the people who make the system, but the people who use it who complete it," and said, "Please present without omission the parts where finance felt like a high threshold." That day, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) introduced major policies for vulnerable groups it has been pursuing to improve financial accessibility, such as a simple mode for financial apps for older adults and text counseling for people with hearing impairments.
On site, a series of improvement tasks that vulnerable financial consumers feel were also proposed. Kim U-jung, secretary-general of the Korea Senior Citizens Association, requested the provision of explanatory materials that make it easy to understand product risks when signing up for high-risk financial products and the strengthening of fraud prevention measures that notify a designated person in the event of suspicious transactions.
Kim Hyun-mi, head of the Korea Association of Senior Welfare Centers for the Solitary Elderly, suggested expanding alternative channels such as mobile branches, post office counters and senior-friendly ATMs to minimize the decline in financial accessibility due to branch closures.
Disability groups called for improving the environment for using non-face-to-face financial services. Kim Dong-beom, secretary-general of the Korea Disability Association, proposed easing fee burdens when using counters and telephone transactions, and Jo Seok-young, head of the Korea Association of Welfare Centers for Persons with Disabilities, requested tailored financial services and expanded financial education by type of disability, along with stronger support for people with disabilities living in rural and fishing communities.
Consumer groups suggested that while explanations of key risks should be strengthened during enrollment in investment-type financial products, duplicate documents and unnecessary procedures should be reduced to alleviate inconveniences felt by consumers. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to carefully review the opinions raised that day, reflect them in improvements to the consumer protection system, and expand tailored support through cooperation with related agencies.