Lee Ju-yeol "Financial Services Commission 'Big Tech Internal Transaction Information Concentration' Unrelated to Consumer Protection"

Direct Rebuttal to the Electronic Financial Transactions Act Amendment
Hope for Passage of the Bank of Korea Act Amendment Clarifying BOK's Payment and Settlement Authority

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] Regarding the concentration of internal transaction information of big tech companies such as Naver and KakaoPay in one place, Lee Ju-yeol, Governor of the Bank of Korea, stated on the 23rd, "I do not think concentrating (internal transaction) information is related to protecting consumers." This directly contradicts the Financial Services Commission's claim that concentrating big tech internal transaction information at the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC) is "for the purpose of consumer protection."

Governor Lee attended the February extraordinary session of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee business status report and responded to the question from Park Hyung-soo, a member of the People Power Party, asking, "What do you think about the FSC's claim that concentrating big tech internal transaction information at the KFTC is for consumer protection?" by saying, "It is not related to consumer protection."

He said, "Even if all internal transaction information is not reviewed, consumers can be protected through other provisions of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act amendment bill," adding, "Consumers can be protected using other mechanisms."

This means that consumers can be protected by utilizing the deposit protection provisions (Article 26) or record preservation and supervision provisions (Articles 22 and 39) of the Electronic Financial Transactions Act amendment bill. Simply put, if customer A makes a 300,000 KRW point payment on Naver Pay, the prepaid amount can be separately stored and protected by Naver.

Governor Lee expressed concern about the Financial Services Commission's analogy of monitoring big tech internal transactions to "CCTV" and the claim that if this is problematic, telecom companies holding customer information would also be "Big Brother." He rebutted, "Telecom companies store customer information individually (with consent), which is different from forcibly gathering and viewing all internal transaction information in one place." He added, "This claim is not just our opinion; it is based on consultations with law firms, and I hope the National Assembly members will make the final judgment after review."

Meanwhile, Governor Lee also expressed hope that the amendment bill to the Bank of Korea Act, which emphasizes the Bank of Korea's payment and settlement authority, will pass. He said, "I hope it will be clearly established to define the Bank of Korea's responsibility and role in payment and settlement," and "I hope the amendment bill will be enacted by the National Assembly."

Furthermore, Governor Lee emphasized, "During the ongoing dispute with the Financial Services Commission, it is quite embarrassing that this issue is perceived as a 'turf battle' for big tech management, but the important point is that the supervisory authority is trying to adjust the central bank's inherent functions."

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