Going forward, even if borrowers meet the agreed card spending requirement when taking out bank loans, issues where they fail to receive rate discounts due to reasons such as installment payments or debit card use will be fixed. Banks will minimize card spending exceptions to about one item and recognize debit card spending the same as credit cards.
The Financial Supervisory Service said on the 22nd that, together with the banking sector, it will strengthen guidance on card spending performance linked to lending rate discounts and push to minimize excluded items. After banks complete system development and revise agreements, the plan will be implemented for new loan customers starting in September–October.
Currently, when banks issue mortgage loans or jeonse deposit loans, they lower rates on conditions such as salary transfers, subscribing to savings plans, and spending above a certain amount on cards. Typically, a preferential rate of 0.2–0.3 percentage points is applied based on card spending performance.
The Financial Supervisory Service explained that banks differ in how they calculate card spending and in which items are excluded from performance, leading to ongoing complaints. By bank, cash advances, card loans, revolving payments, all fees, card annual fees, government subsidies, postpaid transit card amounts, and paid value-added card product payments are excluded from card spending performance. Some banks also do not recognize debit card spending as performance or treat it less favorably than credit cards even for the same amount. At some banks, when paying by card installment, the entire installment period is not recognized as performance, and only the current month's performance is counted.
Going forward, banks must clearly display how card spending performance is calculated in loan agreements, on websites, and in mobile apps. They must guide consumers in an easy-to-understand way on how early payments and cancellations are handled, whether family cards are combined, criteria for recognizing corporate cards, and the performance calculation period.
For long-term loans with terms of five years or more, banks will also push a plan to provide guidance on rate discount conditions at least once a year via text message or email. The aim is to prevent customers from missing benefits because they forget the preferential rate conditions or are unaware of changed standards while holding loans for a long time.
Items excluded from card spending performance will also be sharply reduced. Only about one item per bank, such as card loans or postpaid transit cards, will be excluded. Discrimination against debit card users will be eliminated. Going forward, both credit and debit card spending will count toward performance, and the level of rate discount will be applied equally. Card installment payment performance will be reflected in full, allocated over the installment period.
Banks will apply the improved system to new customers by the end of October. For existing customers, the improvements will be applied sequentially after October.