About 2 trillion won of 17.9 trillion won in “hidden” financial assets has been returned to consumers following a successful campaign. (Image courtesy of the Financial Services Commission)
SEOUL, Jan. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The Financial Services Commission in South Korea announced that about 2 trillion won of 17.9 trillion won in “hidden” financial assets has been returned to consumers following a successful campaign. The campaign, held from November 13 to December 22 last year, aimed to reunite consumers with their dormant financial assets.
Participating in this campaign were various financial institutions including banks, insurance companies, securities firms, credit card companies, savings banks, and mutual finance sectors. The campaign focused not only on savings and deposits, insurance proceeds, and credit card points but also included investor deposits left in securities accounts.
The 2.03 trillion won returned to consumers, spanning over 1.92 million accounts, marks a 36.1% increase from the previous year’s campaign, which had returned 1.49 trillion won.
Breaking down by asset type, insurance proceeds amounted to the highest with 980.9 billion won, followed by savings and deposits at 582.9 billion won, securities at 359.5 billion won, and credit card points at 113.1 billion won. Newly added to this year’s campaign, investor deposits also saw a significant return of 351.8 billion won.
Of the total reclaimed assets, 63% were recovered through non-face-to-face methods, with 1.08 trillion won via internet and 275.2 billion won through mobile platforms. Meanwhile, 37% (754.1 billion won) were reclaimed through direct, in-person methods.
In terms of age, individuals over 60 years old had the highest rate of reclaimed assets at 49.7%. The younger generation, those in their 20s and 30s, had lower reclaim rates at 3.4% and 8%, respectively.
Consumers can check and reclaim their dormant financial assets anytime by visiting bank branches, online through the website (fine.fss.or.kr), or via mobile using the Account Info app.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
