Financial Authorities' Warnings Ineffective... Banking Sector's MyData Competition Overheated

Some Banks Face Controversy Over Assigning Staff for MyData Customer Recruitment
Excessive Prize Giving Practices Persist
Concerns Raised Over Overcompetition and Incomplete Sales Causing Consumer Harm

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jin-ho] Since the full-scale implementation of the MyData (Personal Credit Information Management Service) on the 5th of this month, competition among commercial banks to attract customers has been intensifying. Despite warnings from financial authorities, banks are aggressively recruiting customers to secure a leading position in the promising MyData business. There are concerns that excessive competition and incomplete sales could lead to consumer harm.

According to the financial sector on the 11th, some commercial banks have set quota targets for employees to attract MyData customers. Bank A issued internal guidelines last November during the MyData pilot service, requiring each employee to secure 70 to 80 customers. In Bank B, some branches recently instructed employees to secure 20 customers per day. Consequently, bank employees, fearing lower Key Performance Indicator (KPI) scores and disadvantages in bonuses or promotions if they fail to meet quotas, are reluctantly rushing to boost their performance.

Previously, financial authorities prohibited excessive giveaways and performance quotas during MyData service marketing last year. However, such practices continue covertly, especially in some banks. To secure a lead in the MyData service, banks are pressuring employees while evading financial authorities' scrutiny.

Given this situation, some employees are reportedly spending their own money to provide gift coupons to customers just to meet targets. It is also common for customers taking out loans to be pressured into subscribing to the MyData service. A bank official said, "Each employee creates a separate QR code and actively encourages acquaintances or customers to sign up via text messages. Although we heard that quotas were banned by financial authorities, nothing has changed internally."

The excessive customer acquisition race has also led to a giveaway competition. Major commercial banks have launched customer attraction campaigns offering Starbucks gift cards, the latest smartphones, luxury wallets, and more since the MyData service started. Shinhan Bank is offering Gucci wallets and limited edition Nike sneakers through a lottery to customers who subscribe to the MyData service by the end of this month. IBK Industrial Bank is giving away Chanel wallets and hotel meal vouchers as prizes to those who connect their MyData by the 28th.

The problem is that in the process of excessive customer acquisition, employee quotas and expensive giveaways have overshadowed service differentiation from other financial companies. Particularly, indiscriminate subscriptions are being induced even among customers who lack understanding of the service, raising concerns about financial accidents and consumer harm.

A financial sector official said, "Since the MyData service allows all financial information to be retrieved at once from a single financial institution, there is a risk of chain consumer damage if information leakage occurs, so special caution is required."

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