Strengthening Financial Consumer Protection
IBK has strengthened its internal inspections to ensure compliance with the Act on the Protection of Financial Consumers to protect the rights of financial consumers. The bank expanded the number of inspection items from 26 to 120, allowing for more thorough monitoring of the entire process of financial product sales and customer management. Based on these efforts, the bank has promoted six key tasks, including strengthening the management of consignment sales and expanding customers' right to know, continuously enhancing the level of financial consumer protection.
In addition, to alleviate the inconvenience of financial consumers, IBK operates a preemptive response team for complaints with the Financial Supervisory Service, a 080 telephone complaint system, and a potential complaint system, enhancing the speed of complaint response. Furthermore, IBK has established regular working-level exchange meetings with subsidiaries within the IBK Financial Group to share know-how on responding to financial fraud and managing complaints, thereby further strengthening the financial consumer protection system.
Prevention and Response to Financial Fraud
To prevent financial fraud, IBK operates a 24/7 real-time monitoring system that ensures rapid response by deploying dedicated monitoring personnel even during nights and weekends.
In line with the amendment to the Special Act on the Prevention of Loss caused by Telecommunications-Based Financial Fraud and Refund for Loss, effective from August 2024, IBK has established an information-sharing system between financial companies and prepaid service providers and conducted regular inspections of transactions suspected of voice phishing. Additionally, the bank has established the Non-Face-to-Face Financial Incident Liability Sharing Standards to ensure that financial consumers can receive partial compensation if they suffer losses in non-face-to-face financial transactions, and has implemented additional protective measures to prevent similar incidents.
As part of its commitment to protecting financial consumers, IBK has strengthened education on preventing voice phishing. Throughout the year 2024, the bank conducted customized financial fraud prevention education for a total of 3,118 customers, and operated tailored education programs for military personnel, multicultural families, foreign workers, employees of client companies, and elderly consumers. Additionally, in collaboration with the Korea Welfare Services and the Senior Financial Education Council, the bank has educated financially vulnerable groups on types of voice phishing scams and methods of prevention and response. IBK has also actively promoted public awareness activities for financial fraud prevention, continuing its efforts to prevent voice phishing through YouTube and social media campaigns, branch promotions, and the distribution of content to raise awareness of financial scams.
Appreciation by Seoul Namdaemun Police Chief for Voice Phishing Prevention (July 2024)
Enhancing Risk Management of Financial Products and Customer Satisfaction Services
IBK operates the Investment Product Risk Response Standard, which classifies the risk levels of financial products into four stages to systematically manage the risks of financial products and minimize the possibility of principal loss in investment products. Based on the Standard, IBK quickly responds to the volatility of the financial market and strengthens the management of investment products with a priority on customer protection.
IBK has implemented the Voice of Customer (VOC) Assetization project to improve its financial services by reflecting customer opinions, and thereby systematically manage the improvement of products and services. In 2024, the bank received 365 customer complaints and successfully resolved 290 cases of inconvenience, which accounts for 79%. Additionally, by expanding CS training, the bank conducted 14 face-to-face role-playing-based training sessions for a total of 626 participants, and improved customer service quality through CS meetings and consulting to enhance communication between customers and staff.
Notably, IBK has achieved the highest rating of “Excellent” in the Korean Consumer Protection Index (KCPI), a rating system designed to enhance financial consumer protection competitiveness. This achievement has publicly recognized the bank’s efforts to protect financial consumers.
CS meeting (14 sessions implemented in 2024)