Financial Supervisory Service releases first-half complaint data

Insurance payment disputes account for half of all complaints

Bank voice-phishing complaints jump 78%

Stock and ETF trading grievances double securities firm complaints

Asset managers see complaints surge 4.8 times over SpaceX IPO ads

The Financial Supervisory Service headquarters in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul [Financial Supervisory Service]
The Financial Supervisory Service headquarters in Yeouido, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul [Financial Supervisory Service]

Financial complaints filed with the Financial Supervisory Service in the first half of this year approached 79,000, jumping nearly 40 percent from a year earlier. Insurance complaints — driven by a surge in disputes over benefit payments — accounted for more than half of all cases. Voice-phishing complaints rose sharply in the banking sector, while a buoyant stock market pushed securities firm complaints significantly higher in the financial investment sector.

According to the FSS's first-half 2026 financial complaint report released Tuesday, total complaints received in the first six months reached 78,979, up 39.5 percent, or 22,346 cases, from 56,633 in the same period last year. By type, general complaints rose 38.3 percent to 51,979 cases, while dispute complaints climbed 41.7 percent to 27,000 cases.

The FSS said the temporary spike reflected heightened consumer awareness stemming from stronger consumer-protection oversight, and added that complaints have since stabilized, returning to normal levels in July and August.

Complaints increased across all sectors — banking, small-finance, insurance and financial investment. Insurance held the largest share at 51 percent of all financial complaints, broken down into non-life insurance at 38 percent and life insurance at 13 percent, followed by small-finance at 20 percent, banking at 17 percent and financial investment at 12 percent.

Insurance complaints near 40,000, led by benefit payment disputes

Insurance complaints totaled 39,963, up 42.0 percent, or 11,826 cases, from the same period last year. Non-life insurance complaints rose 40.5 percent to 30,136 cases, driven by grievances over benefit calculation and payment — which climbed 29.9 percent to 3,415 cases — and disputes over coverage determinations, up 78.9 percent to 1,771 cases. Benefit payment-related complaints accounted for 49 percent of all non-life insurance complaints.

Life insurance complaints jumped 47.0 percent to 9,827 cases. Complaints over benefit calculation and payment surged by 1,097 cases, or 77.2 percent, while solicitation-related complaints rose by 421 cases, or 18.8 percent. The fastest-growing category in life insurance was complaints over violations of disclosure and notification obligations — cases in which insurers denied claims or sought to void policies on the grounds that policyholders had failed to disclose pre-existing conditions or report post-enrollment changes such as a change of occupation. Such complaints reached 439 cases, 3.2 times the 136 recorded in the same period last year. The same category also rose 59.5 percent to 1,440 cases in non-life insurance.

The insurance sector's dominance was even more pronounced in dispute complaints. Of the 27,000 dispute complaints filed in the first half, 23,395, or 87 percent, came from the insurance sector.

Among life insurers, iM Life recorded the highest complaint rate at 27.4 cases per 100,000 policies in force, followed by KDB Life at 19.7 and Heungkuk Life at 16.1. Heungkuk Life's rate more than doubled, rising 107.0 percent from a year earlier. Among non-life insurers, Lotte Non-Life Insurance led with 13.9 cases per 100,000 policies, followed by Hanwha General Insurance at 12.9 and Meritz Fire at 12.8.

Bank voice-phishing complaints up 78%; internet bank complaints double

Banking sector complaints rose 30.5 percent, or 3,096 cases, to 13,245. Voice-phishing complaints jumped by 1,357 cases, or 77.8 percent, to 3,102, with fraud reports and requests to lift payment suspensions making up the bulk. Deposit and savings complaints — including transaction limit restrictions and requests for the return of mistaken transfers — also climbed 59.3 percent, or 566 cases, to 1,520. Lending complaints fell by 376 cases to 3,377, though they still accounted for the largest share of banking complaints at 26 percent.

KB Kookmin Bank recorded the highest complaint rate among banks at 5.8 cases per 100,000 customers, followed by Woori Bank at 4.4, Hana Bank at 4.3, Shinhan Bank at 3.8 and Kakao Bank at 3.7. Internet banks posted the sharpest increases: K bank rose 94.8 percent and Kakao Bank 92.4 percent.

Small-finance sector complaints rose 22.8 percent to 16,223. Credit card company complaints accounted for 42.4 percent of the total at 6,881 cases, up 907 cases, or 15.2 percent. Complaints against credit information companies over debt collection rose 32.1 percent to 1,858 cases, while complaints against loan companies climbed 30.3 percent to 1,773 cases.

Among card companies, Shinhan Card posted the highest complaint rate at 5.5 cases per 100,000 customers, followed by KB Kookmin Card at 3.8 and Lotte Card at 3.6.

Financial investment complaints jumped 86.1 percent, or 4,417 cases, to 9,548 — the steepest increase of any sector. Securities firm complaints nearly doubled, rising 99.6 percent to 6,559 cases, driven by grievances over stock and ETF trading and requests for investigations into unfair trading practices. Asset management company complaints surged 377.1 percent to 1,169 cases, partly due to complaints over misleading advertising related to SpaceX IPO allocations. Virtual asset business complaints also rose 82.5 percent to 679 cases.

Among securities firms, Meritz Securities recorded the highest complaint rate at 5.5 cases per 100,000 active accounts, followed by Mirae Asset Securities at 3.8. Mirae Asset Securities' total complaint count reached 804 cases, up 474.3 percent from 140 cases in the same period last year.

Cases processed up 32%; bank dispute resolutions fall 72% on ELS base effect

The FSS processed 78,462 complaints in the first half, up 32.0 percent from 59,463 in the same period last year. The regulator said it responded by improving its complaint-handling system and reinforcing staffing. Dispute complaint resolutions rose 19.0 percent to 25,747 cases. By sector, bank dispute resolutions fell 72.1 percent to 694 cases, reflecting a base effect from the large volume of Hong Kong H-index ELS disputes processed in the first half of last year. Insurance dispute resolutions, by contrast, rose 35.9 percent to 22,890 cases.

The FSS said it plans to incorporate consumer harm identified through complaints and disputes into its supervisory and inspection activities, and will continue issuing consumer alerts and advisories — 24 of which were issued between January and August this year. Starting this month, the regulator will pilot a generative AI-based integrated portal for financial complaints and disputes, aimed at reducing complaint review time and improving the quality of case handling.


won@heraldcorp.com