Forecast: "One in Three Remittance Errors Are Returned"

37 Billion Won Returned in One Year

Provided by Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Statistics show that when money is mistakenly sent to another person, one out of three cases can be recovered by applying for a refund through the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC).

The KDIC announced on the 20th that through the "Erroneous Transfer Refund Support System," which has been in effect since July 6 last year, a total of 9,836 cases (14.5 billion KRW) were applied for until the end of last month, and 2,964 cases (3.7 billion KRW) were refunded to the remitters.

Since the system was fully implemented in August last year, an average of 935 cases (1.36 billion KRW) per month have been applied for refunds. In particular, last month saw the highest number of applications this year, with 974 cases.

Excluding cases involving accounts used for crimes such as voice phishing, withdrawal of applications by remitters, and financial institutions’ failure to follow their own refund procedures, a total of 4,459 cases were recognized as eligible for support. Among these, 2,964 erroneous transfers were refunded. Since August last year, an average of 296 cases (370 million KRW) have been refunded monthly.

The KDIC stated that until the end of last month, a total of 3.72 billion KRW was recovered through voluntary returns (2,858 cases) and payment orders (106 cases), and after deducting various expenses such as postage and stamp fees, 3.58 billion KRW was refunded. The average payout rate for erroneous transfer refunds was 96.0%, and the average processing time was 43 days.

A KDIC official said, "Among the refund support applications received by KDIC, there were quite a few cases that were not eligible for support, such as recipients who had passed away, long-term overseas stays, or accounts of closed or suspended corporations," and added, "It is necessary to exercise caution by double-checking the account number, account holder, and transfer amount when sending money."

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