The South Korea Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced a plan to facilitate the entrustment of banking services, aiming to maintain consumer access to in-person financial services as physical bank branches continue to decline. The package focuses on establishing a bank agency framework and expanding options for basic cash transactions through jointly shared ATMs and convenience stores. Under the proposed bank agency regime, authorised third parties would be able to provide intrinsic banking services under the Banking Act, such as deposit-taking, lending and money transfers, but only for customer-facing steps such as consultation, receiving application forms and executing agreements. Screening and approval decisions would remain with banks. Eligibility to act as a bank agency would be limited to authorised entities, including banks and corporates with a bank as the largest shareholder, and regionally based operators such as Korea Post, mutual finance businesses and savings banks; agencies could serve multiple banks but not internet-only banks, and services would be restricted to face-to-face delivery. Separately, the FSC plans to incentivise banks to participate in jointly shared ATM operations (currently offered by four banks) and to broaden deployment beyond traditional markets to venues such as civil service offices, community centres and large-scale supermarkets, including partnerships that extend access to ATMs operated by local financial companies. For convenience-store cash services, the FSC plans to allow cash reward points to be withdrawn without a purchase requirement, permit the use of mobile debit cards in addition to plastic cards, and raise maximum deposit and withdrawal limits at a later stage. To introduce bank agency services, the government plans to pursue amendments to the Banking Act within this year, while first piloting the model through designations under the financial regulatory sandbox. The pilot would be open to deposit-taking and credit-lending firms such as banks and to Korea Post, which operates about 2,500 branches nationwide (as of end-2024).
South Korea Financial Services Commission 2025-03-27
South Korea Financial Services Commission unveils plan to introduce bank agencies and expand shared ATMs and convenience store cash services
The South Korea Financial Services Commission plans to facilitate banking service entrustment to maintain consumer access amid declining branches. The initiative includes a bank agency framework allowing authorised third parties to provide customer-facing services, with screening and approval decisions remaining with banks. Additionally, the FSC aims to expand shared ATM operations and enhance convenience-store cash services, including mobile debit card use and increased transaction limits.