App-Tech for Pocket Money, Personal Information Leaking Everywhere

Consumer Agency Survey on Service Status of 9 Major Financial Apps
Some Refuse to Transfer Reward Points or Deduct Fees
Excessive Personal Information Requested for Free Trial Applications
"Improvement Needed in Financial App Point Usage Methods"

It has been found that some app-tech services do not deposit the points earned into accounts or deduct fees when making deposits. There are also cases where an excessive amount of personal information must be provided during use, raising concerns that caution is needed.

The Korea Consumer Agency announced on the 30th that this was confirmed after investigating app-tech services of nine major financial apps. The subjects of the investigation were 'Shinhan SOL Bank', 'Kakao Bank', 'Kakao Pay', 'Toss', 'Paybook', 'Hana Money', 'KB PAY', 'monimo', etc., and the consumer survey targeted 1,000 people aged 14 and older who had used app-tech through these financial apps in the past six months.

App-tech is a compound word of Application and Finance Technology. It provides monetary rewards by watching advertisements or completing specific missions through mobile apps. Typical examples include 'attendance check' where users receive rewards just by logging into the app, 'pedometer' where rewards are given upon meeting a certain number of steps, and 'reward-type advertisements' where rewards are given for completing missions such as watching ads.

According to a survey conducted by the Consumer Agency targeting 1,000 people with app-tech experience, they earned an average of 6,974 points per month. Additionally, 73.5% of them responded that they convert the points earned into cash by transferring them to their bank accounts.

However, there were some differences in how points could be used like cash depending on the service. Among the nine investigated apps, eight allowed point transfers to bank accounts, but Kakao Pay was the only one that did not. Furthermore, Toss was the only one among the eight apps that charged a 10% fee when transferring points to accounts. Regarding this, Kakao Pay explained, "We have secured sufficient payment options and guarantee usability so that points can be freely used like cash at various payment places such as online and offline shopping, convenience stores, and department stores." Toss stated, "No fees are deducted when using points for payment."

The survey also revealed that consumers perceive they provide an average of 5.7 pieces of personal information when agreeing to provide personal data to third parties while performing app-tech missions. However, in reality, to participate in 'free trial applications' and 'point/refund inquiries' missions among the reward-type advertisements of the investigated financial apps, users must agree to provide between a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 52 pieces of personal information. The Consumer Agency urged, "Some reward-type advertisements may require a large amount of personal information, so caution is necessary."

Based on the results of this investigation, the Consumer Agency stated that it recommended the investigated businesses to improve the methods of point usage in a consumer-oriented manner and to establish procedures for withdrawing consent to provide personal information.

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