Financial Services Commission to Introduce Voice OTP for the Visually Impaired at All Banks by Year-End

On-Site Meeting on Improving Financial Accessibility for People with Disabilities and the Elderly
Expansion of STT Services for the Hearing Impaired
Encouraging the Introduction of Simplified App Modes for Seniors

Financial authorities are further enhancing financial accessibility for people with visual and hearing impairments. The voice OTP service for the visually impaired, which is currently available only at the four major commercial banks, will be expanded to all banks by the end of the year. There are also plans to actively expand text-based consultation services for the hearing impaired.

On August 29, the Financial Services Commission announced that it had discussed these measures at an on-site meeting held at the Korea Federation of Banks under the theme of "Improving Financial Accessibility for People with Disabilities and the Elderly."

This meeting was a follow-up to the "Strategy and Measures to Enhance Financial Accessibility for People with Disabilities" announced in April. It was organized to check whether measures to improve financial convenience for people with disabilities and the elderly are being faithfully implemented, and to discuss additional tasks.

According to the on-site inspection, the four major commercial banks, which have the highest demand, have completed the introduction of the voice OTP service. The remaining banks plan to introduce the service by the end of this year.

The text consultation service (STT) for the hearing impaired is being introduced first at banks and savings banks with high demand for in-person branch services. Among the 15 major commercial banks, excluding internet-only banks, 11 banks (73%) have completed the introduction. Among savings banks, 68 out of 79 (86%) have introduced the service.

The Financial Services Commission also encouraged the introduction of a simplified mode for financial apps for the elderly. Major banks and card companies with high mobile usage demand have completed the launch of simplified mobile app modes for seniors.

Going forward, the plan is to prioritize the introduction of simplified modes at securities firms, including mobile trading systems (MTS). The commission also aims to encourage early adoption in other sectors such as savings banks and insurance companies.

The Financial Services Commission stated, "We will continue to monitor the implementation of the measures announced so far to ensure that there are no inconveniences in financial use for marginalized groups such as people with disabilities and the elderly. In addition, we will actively identify further improvement tasks based on the opinions presented at today's on-site meeting."

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