Are Women More Sensitive to COVID-19? ... Data Hotspot Gathering 'Honey Information' (Comprehensive)

One and a Half Months Since Launch of Financial Data Exchange
Accumulated 349 Data Products in Finance and Business Sectors

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Which gender is more sensitive to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), men or women? Data analyzed by an internal research team at a major city bank, Bank A, provides a small hint to this question. Bank A analyzed customer visit trends to its branches since the full-scale spread of COVID-19 in February and found that the rate of female customers visiting branches dropped much more significantly compared to male customers.

An official from the bank explained, "Although it is not possible to generalize the difference in infectious disease sensitivity between men and women solely based on branch visit trends of a specific bank, since bank branches inherently involve close contact between people, we can get some insight into that difference."

The financial data exchange, which processes and trades customers' financial information, is showing a smooth start. Not only have member companies increased with additional participation from city banks and others, but data transactions are also actively taking place.

According to the Financial Security Institute and related industries on the 26th, as of today, the Financial Data Exchange, launched on the 11th of last month, has registered 349 data sets from financial companies such as banks and card companies, major telecommunications firms, and credit information companies. The number of participating companies has increased from 46 at the ten-day mark after launch to 68. Among these, a cumulative total of 145 data transactions have occurred. Eleven paid products have been traded, with the transaction volume reaching 290 million KRW.

The Financial Data Exchange is an intermediary system where suppliers and demanders can match and trade data such as de-identified information and corporate information. It was launched in line with the government's and financial authorities' policy to 'revitalize the data economy.' Recently, interesting data reflecting changes in consumer online consumption and lifestyle patterns after the spread of COVID-19, securities firm channel usage rates, and consumption trend changes due to fine dust variations have been continuously registered.

For example, according to card payment data of delivery application (app) users analyzed by Card Company B, in a certain alley commercial district in Seoul, famous for its high concentration of young office workers, the proportion of card payments through delivery apps was overwhelmingly higher than on-site payments at business locations. A representative from Card Company B explained, "Such data can be usefully utilized as reference materials for marketing and commercial district management by companies or local governments."

Over the past year, numerous financial activity-related data that directly serve as references for the design and investment decisions of various products, such as usage rates by insurance products subscribed to and corporate credit information, have also been uploaded.

Recently, statistical data related to real estate, such as the rate of change in jeonse (long-term deposit lease) and sales prices of apartments nationwide, have been consecutively registered. It is known that Seoul City is discussing participation in the Financial Data Exchange with public administration data.

An official from the financial authorities forecasted, "With the implementation of the Data 3 Act in August and the activation of data integration across different industries, the quantity and quality of traded data will significantly increase."

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