S. Korea to Foster Big Data Use for Financial Services Firms

(image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)

SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – The government plans to allow financial service companies here to share the personal information of their customers for big data collection purposes while keeping their names and other details undisclosed, the top financial regulator said Thursday. 

The measure would pave the way for banks, insurers, securities firms, fintech operators and others to develop far more various products by exchanging “de-identified” big data. 

“It has been difficult so far for different business operators to share data (with others) without the consent of data providers,” Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the Financial Services Commission (FSS), said in a related meeting. “But (the government) would make sure that such data is shared through trustworthy third party agencies.” 

The “de-identification” process is the prerequisite for the service, he added, and refers to the work to prevent a person’s identity from being connected with their information. 

The FSS, which is tasked with overseeing South Korea’s financial system and improving it, has pushed for promoting the use of big data in the financial sector in a bid to enhance its competitiveness. 

It has designated the Financial Security Institute and the Korea Credit Information Services as the agencies to support the initiative. 

“Now that the government has created the system and infrastructure for using big data, financial services firms need to recognize the importance of big data in the development of the industry and actively take advantage of them,” Yim said.

(Yonhap)