1.62 Million Citizens Reclaimed 1.4 Trillion Won in 'Sleeping Money'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] It has been identified that 1.62 million of our citizens found approximately 1.4 trillion KRW of "dormant money" through the "Finding Hidden Financial Assets" campaign jointly conducted by the financial sector last year.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on the 10th that as a result of conducting the "Finding Hidden Financial Assets" campaign jointly with the entire financial sector for six weeks from November 11 to December 20 last year, 1.62 million financial consumers found about 1.4 trillion KRW of hidden financial assets.

The FSS evaluated, "This campaign maximized its effectiveness by shifting from the previous method where banks, securities, insurance, and other sectors conducted the campaign individually to a simultaneous participation of all sectors and related institutions," adding, "Furthermore, regional promotions linked with local governments and regional financial institutions were significantly strengthened to help financially marginalized consumers, such as the elderly and local residents, find their hidden financial assets."

This amount corresponds to about 60% of the dormant financial assets found over the past four years (2.3 trillion KRW), making it the largest single campaign achievement. From June 2015 to the end of June last year, approximately 2.3 trillion KRW was refunded over four years, averaging about 580 billion KRW annually.

In addition to dormant financial assets (220.7 billion KRW), long-term inactive financial assets were reduced by about 1.2 trillion KRW, showing a clear refund performance for the newly included long-term inactive financial assets. As of the end of June last year, long-term inactive financial assets amounted to 8.3 trillion KRW. Dormant financial assets refer to assets whose statute of limitations has been completed under relevant laws, while long-term inactive financial assets have no legal definition but generally refer to assets that have not been transacted for over three years.

By type, insurance money was the largest at 924.7 billion KRW, followed by deposits and savings (301.3 billion KRW), dormant securities (105.4 billion KRW), unclaimed stocks (57.4 billion KRW), lost stock dividends (5.5 billion KRW), and trusts (1 billion KRW). Deposits and savings consisted of mutual finance (259.4 billion KRW), banks (36.8 billion KRW), and savings banks (5.1 billion KRW). Notably, most insurance money (878.1 billion KRW) consisted of long-term inactive insurance money such as surrender insurance money (including accident partial insurance money, dividends, and survival pensions) and maturity insurance money. Lost stock dividends refer to dividends or stocks generated from stocks registered under the Korea Securities Depository's name because the physical stock owners did not change the registration to their own names.

By age group, the elderly aged 60 and above accounted for the highest proportion at 46.1%, followed by those in their 50s at 31.5%, 40s at 13.9%, and 30s and below at 8.6%. Among those 30 and below, people in their 30s accounted for 66.8 billion KRW (5.2%), 20s for 31 billion KRW (2.4%), and teens for 11.9 billion KRW (0.9%). It is analyzed that the elderly, who do not frequently use online transactions, found their assets mainly through awareness raised by broadcasts, newspapers, or individual guidance from financial companies.

By channel, the amount found by directly visiting "branches and customer centers" was the largest at 1.3 trillion KRW (94.8%), followed by "internet" at 47.5 billion KRW (3.4%) and "mobile" at 25.4 billion KRW (1.8%).

The FSS plans to add "card points" to the campaign conducted in the first half of this year, in addition to "dormant financial assets" and "long-term inactive financial assets." As of the end of June last year, unused card points held by customers amounted to about 2.3 trillion KRW.

Moreover, the service will be expanded year-round to allow simultaneous inquiry not only of all financial sector accounts under the customer's name but also dormant financial assets contributed by financial companies to the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency. Currently, 19 banks, 37 insurance companies, and 49 savings banks have contributed, enabling inquiry and refund of about 1 trillion KRW of dormant financial assets.

The online payment limit for the integrated account management service will also be raised. This limit was previously expanded from 300,000 KRW in July 2016 to 500,000 KRW in April 2017.

An FSS official said, "We plan to devise various measures to help the elderly find more hidden financial assets."

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