은행업권의 금융소비자보호 시스템 비교 분석 - 주요 시중은행과 인터넷전문은행을 중심으로

Abstract

This study analyzes how consumers have experienced the financial consumer protection (FCP) system since implementing the Financial Consumer Protection Act. We assessed financial companies' reliability and identified policy and practical improvements to enhance the effectiveness of FCP. FCP web pages and ESG reports from five major commercial banks (Shinhan, Woori, KB, Hana, & NH) and three Internet-only banks (Kakaobank, Kbank, & Tossbank) were analyzed twice between September and November 2023, based on metric and non-metric items in the Financial Consumer Protection Status Assessment. The results are as follows: First, the accessibility of FCP webpages varied among banks; compared to previous studies, it remained difficult for consumers to understand the system's operation even after the Financial Consumer Protection Act was implemented. Second, although metric items showed improvement at all banks since 2018, identifying the increase or decrease in complaints was time-consuming, and the banks provided limited information on complaint processing deadlines and financial accident histories. Third, non-metric items appeared in various forms across each bank's website, indicating a need to standardize FCP web pages. Although the form and accessibility of each bank's FCP system have improved since the act's implementation, the provided information remains nonspecific and insufficient. We also concluded that banks need to clarify the roles of their FCP departments on their websites to offer practical assistance to consumers rather than merely providing formal information. Online banks offer less comprehensive FCP information compared to traditional banks. There is a need to enhance the FCP system to provide precise and accurate information, particularly for remote transactions that are prone to consumer issues. We discovered that Internet-only banks offer less comprehensive FCP information compared to commercial banks. As a result, we concluded that the FCP system needs to be strengthened to provide precise and accurate information, particularly considering the nature of remote transactions, which are vulnerable to consumer issues. The study suggests several policy enhancements based on the findings. These include the standardization of the content of FCP webpages on bank websites, the allocation of comparative disclosure responsibilities, the strengthening of the FCP roles of product development and sales staff in banks, the establishment of evaluation criteria that consider consumer perspectives, and the implementation of the Financial Consumer Centered Management (FCCM) certification system.