Government Establishes "Financial Consumer Protection Policy Evaluation Committee" to Assess Consumer-Centric Financial Policies

Establishment of a Public-Private Consultative Body
Comprehensive Policy Evaluation to Begin Next Year

The government has established the "Financial Consumer Protection Policy Evaluation Committee," a joint public-private consultative body to evaluate financial consumer policies.

On June 29, Lee Eogwon, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, held the inaugural meeting of the Financial Consumer Protection Policy Evaluation Committee at the Government Complex Seoul, with the participation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Fair Trade Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, and private sector members.

Before the meeting, Chairman Lee presented letters of appointment to 12 private sector members from various fields, including financial consumer organizations, academia, research, and law, who possess expertise in their respective areas. He then led discussions on the committee's operational direction and plans for establishing a policy evaluation framework.

The committee plans to broadly examine all financial policies, including financial consumer protection policies, inclusive and youth finance, and financial crime prevention. In particular, the committee aims to embed the consumer protection perspective throughout the entire policy process, not only evaluating outcomes after implementation, but also considering the stages of policy design and execution.

The evaluation method will also be reorganized to focus on consumers. In addition to quantitative indicators such as the number of complaints and statistical data, a comprehensive evaluation system will be established, incorporating financial consumer satisfaction, on-site interviews, and the service use experiences of vulnerable groups.

Furthermore, measures will be put in place to ensure that the committee's recommendations for improvement are followed up with concrete implementation plans. Outstanding cases will be shared and disseminated across both the government and the financial sector as a whole.

The government will first focus on establishing the institutional foundation, including final deliberation and confirmation of detailed evaluation indicators and a specific evaluation system in the second half of this year. Starting next year, the committee will begin full-scale operations and commence policy evaluations.

Despite the enactment of the Financial Consumer Protection Act and ongoing efforts by the government and the financial sector to protect consumers, the number of consumer complaints has continued to increase. Financial complaints rose by 10.4%, from 116,338 cases in 2024 to 128,419 cases in 2025.

Chairman Lee emphasized, "We must go beyond simply creating financial consumer protection policies and rigorously assess whether they have truly benefited the public and whether any unforeseen side effects have occurred," adding, "In response to the rapid changes in the financial environment brought about by the spread of digital finance, the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), and the advent of a super-aged society, we will establish a sophisticated consumer protection system tailored to the characteristics and risks of the elderly, youth, and financially vulnerable groups."

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