Forecast 'Recovering Money Sent by Mistake' After 2 Years... Who Did It?

Mistaken Remittance Data Shows 46% Occur During Drinking or Drowsiness

The Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation (KDIC) announced on the 12th that from July 2021 until the end of last month, it confirmed approximately 10,000 people as eligible for support totaling 14.9 billion KRW through the mistaken remittance return support system over the past two years.

According to KDIC, since the system's implementation until the end of last month, there were 23,718 applications for mistaken remittance return support, with the requested amount reaching 38.5 billion KRW. After review, KDIC confirmed 10,603 people and 14.9 billion KRW as eligible for support.

KDIC proceeded with the return process for the confirmed cases and has so far returned 8.6 billion KRW to 7,015 people. Among them were 23 high-value mistaken remitters who sent over 10 million KRW (650 million KRW in total). Regarding the return methods, 95% (6,642 people) voluntarily returned the funds, 4% (285 people) were recovered through payment orders, and 1% (88 people) through legal procedures such as compulsory execution.

Based on the two-year operation results of the system, KDIC analyzed that mistaken remitters were mainly sellers of goods and services (33.6%), themselves (30.0%), and family or acquaintances (21.9%) as mistaken remittance recipients. Among them, 51.9% mistakenly sent money to accounts they regularly used but confused.

The most common reason for mistaken remittance was entering the wrong account number (65.9%). This was followed by sending money to people with the same or similar names (16.4%), and mistakenly selecting from recent or frequent transfer lists (14.3%). Notably, in the case of corporations, mistaken remittances to former employees or past business partners accounted for 34.4% of corporate mistaken remittances.

Regarding the state at the time of mistaken remittance, 46.4% were under the influence of alcohol or drowsiness, and 29.7% were transferring money while engaged in other tasks such as work, driving, or phone calls. KDIC’s analysis showed that mistaken remittances occurred more frequently on weekdays than weekends, especially on Fridays, and the most common time was between 2 PM and 4 PM.

Additionally, by gender, males (54.9%) were more frequent mistaken remitters than females (45.1%), and by age group, those in their 30s to 50s, who have higher internet banking usage rates, accounted for 66.1%. Specifically, when considering both gender and age, women in their 50s were the largest group of mistaken remitters at 13.3%, followed by men in their 30s, 40s, and 50s.

KDIC stated, "As we enter the third year of system operation, we conducted a satisfaction survey to gather opinions for system improvement, and we are currently improving the system to expand text message notification services regarding progress." They added, "We will continue to actively identify and refine areas that need improvement, and by sharing the necessity and operational results of the system overseas, we plan to establish it as a financial life system not only domestically but also internationally."

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