Forgotten balances can be recovered, says FSC

The financial authority on Thursday laid out a plan that will help people recover money they forgot about in accounts at nonbanking financial companies, such as savings banks, cooperatives and brokerage firms.

According to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), people with balances in accounts they forgot about will be able to either wire the money to their bank accounts or donate it to the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency starting next year.

“One of the main missions of the financial industry is to go beyond consumer protection and to ensure consumer satisfaction,” FSC Chairman Choi Jong-ku said during a discussion on improving financial transaction services. “Once the convenience of money transactions improves, the competitiveness of nonbanking financial companies will be raised,” Choi said.

In 2015, the government started a service through which people could easily find money they forgot about in bank and insurance company accounts.

The FSC estimated that there are over 110 million forgotten accounts at nonbanking financial companies with some 7.5 trillion won ($6.44 billion) in them.

At the end of last year, the government was able to return 86.7 billion won to 6.5 million people that was parked in idle bank accounts. It returned another 3 trillion won to 2.4 million insurance company customers.

In the second half of this year, customers will be able to track down balances in forgotten accounts in nonbanking financial companies. They can retrieve that money by closing their accounts.

Starting next year, they will be able to wire that money to their bank accounts.

Other service improvements will include allowing credit card subscribers to view their overall spending, including automatic payments on a single platform, which will make it easier for customers to either change or cancel various subscriptions.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]