The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Korea Credit Information Services said on the 6th that starting on the 11th they will officially operate a "rapid block system for financial transactions under deceased persons' names" with participation from all financial companies.
Until now, some financial companies received deceased-person information once a month from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and used it to block financial transactions. Considering the deadline for death reports and the information-sharing cycle, confirming a death took up to two months.
The government and the financial authorities built an integrated response system to close these gaps.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) will provide deceased-person information to the Korea Credit Information Services once a day, and the Korea Credit Information Services will process the information received that day from the ministry and deliver it to all financial companies (4,890 firms). Financial companies will then block every transaction confirmed to involve a deceased person during the course of financial transactions.
Bereaved family members must complete inheritance procedures to conduct financial transactions under the deceased person's name. However, if emergency funds are needed for medical or funeral expenses, they can use the "exceptional withdrawal" system.
In addition, bereaved family members can check inherited assets through the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) "heirs' financial transaction inquiry service" or the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) "one-stop safe inheritance service."
The financial authorities said, "This improvement will help protect people's assets and prevent fraudulent financial transactions," adding, "We will work to minimize inconveniences for bereaved families and to establish the system."