[Square] Looking Forward to the Emergence of Innovative Financial Players

Shin Hyun-jun, President of Korea Credit Information Services

The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the world's largest electronics exhibition held annually in the United States, initially served as a platform to showcase home appliances. However, recently it has evolved into a convergence exhibition centered on technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and data, breaking down the boundaries of industries including telecommunications, aviation, entertainment, healthcare, distribution, and finance. Amidst the fierce competition to display future technologies and industry trends, the most impressive exhibit this year was the autonomous electric vehicle. Many companies demonstrated innovative attempts to redefine the automotive industry through the convergence of the latest technologies, including optical technologies like image sensing and displays, electronic technologies, chemical technologies such as batteries, and sound and video technologies and entertainment content provided to passengers during autonomous driving.

The trend of redefining existing industry boundaries and creating new business models through convergence is no exception in the financial sector, where fintech?combining IT, mobile technologies, and financial infrastructure?has emerged as a major pillar of the financial industry. Big tech companies based on internet platforms such as Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Alibaba, along with tech-fin companies, are shaking up the landscape of the financial industry. Given the nature of the financial industry, which creates value through intangible goods and services, the role of 'data' as a connecting link in this convergence is very significant and core.

Thanks to the efforts and support of many, the Data 3 Laws (Personal Information Protection Act, Information and Communications Network Act, and Credit Information Act) were amended by the National Assembly earlier this year, enabling participants in our financial market to expect new financial services and growth engines through the full utilization of data. Numerous positive changes are anticipated, such as providing customized personal financial services by integrating and analyzing scattered financial transaction information through the MyData industry, developing new business models based on high-quality data accumulated in the financial sector, and creating new products and discovering new customer segments through data combination across different industries.

Moreover, the data-driven economy we will build going forward holds greater significance in its infinite potential to enable 'unexpected' creative and innovative services beyond the 'anticipated' positive effects.

However, many challenges remain to be addressed to successfully complete the transition to a data economy and financial innovation.

Above all, efforts must be made not only to quantitatively expand the data that serves as raw material for AI and big data industries but also to secure high-quality datasets. To improve data quality, it is necessary to enhance accuracy, refine past data to extend time series, and structure it in a form that is easy to utilize.

Alongside this, measures to ensure the safe use of data must be meticulously designed and implemented. To firmly establish a culture of information protection, consulting and continuous evaluation systems should be operated to ensure thorough information management and protection in the financial sector. Consumer protection measures, such as simplifying and visualizing consent forms for information use and presenting usage grades according to information sensitivity, should also be settled through role-sharing between the industry and related institutions.

The year 2020, when the new Data 3 Laws came into effect, will be remembered as the inaugural year of 'data finance' in our financial industry. Just as global companies continue their innovative challenges in the automotive industry by converging accumulated data and technologies, we look forward to the emergence of numerous innovative players in our financial industry who will 'exceed expectations.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.