FSS: "KDB Saengmyeong's Consumer Protection Inadequate"

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] KDB Life Insurance's level of financial consumer protection was found to be insufficient. In contrast, Shinhan Bank, DB Life Insurance, and KB Kookmin Card were rated as 'Good.'

On the 21st, the Financial Supervisory Service disclosed the results of the financial consumer protection evaluation conducted on 30 financial companies.

The financial consumer protection evaluation comprehensively examines each financial company's internal control system operation status and compliance with consumer protection requirements at each stage such as product development, sales, and post-sales, and is classified into five grades: 'Excellent,' 'Good,' 'Average,' 'Insufficient,' and 'Vulnerable.'

It was also evaluated by dividing into a 'Quantitative section,' which checks financial accidents such as the number of complaints and complaint increase rates, and a 'Qualitative section,' which inspects the establishment of internal control systems for consumer protection, employee training, and compensation system operation.

As a result of the evaluation, three companies received an overall grade of 'Good,' 26 companies were 'Average,' and one company was 'Insufficient.' There were no 'Excellent' or 'Vulnerable' grades.

Compared to last year's evaluation, the number of companies rated 'Insufficient' decreased from three to one.

KDB Life Insurance continuously faced complaints regarding incomplete sales of whole life insurance. Due to delays in improving internal controls for consumer protection, it was rated 'Insufficient' for two consecutive years.

Looking at each section, in the quantitative section, 20 out of 30 companies, mostly small and medium-sized, received 'Good' or higher grades, indicating an overall good level of quantitative evaluation results.

Small and medium-sized companies such as regional banks and savings banks had fewer complaints, and some life insurance companies and card companies had a high proportion of complaints resolved through voluntary adjustment, resulting in many 'Good' grades.

Large banks and securities and insurance companies were rated 'Average' due to issues such as private equity fund incidents, system failures, and whole life insurance complaints.

In the qualitative section, seven out of 30 companies (Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, DB Life Insurance, Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance, KB Kookmin Card, Shinhan Investment Corp., NH Investment & Securities) received 'Good' or higher grades.

These are all large companies in the banking, insurance, card, and securities sectors, which have well-established and operated consumer protection systems, including consumer protection oversight organizations of a scale capable of practical roles.

On the other hand, small financial companies such as savings banks had small-scale consumer protection oversight organizations responsible for all areas including self-inspection, complaint response, and training, resulting in some deficiencies and mostly 'Average' to 'Insufficient' grades.

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to notify each financial company and sector association of the evaluation results and have them posted.

In particular, regarding KDB Life Insurance, the CEO and the board of directors will be guided to take the lead in preparing and implementing plans to reduce complaints and improve the consumer protection system.

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