Criteria for recognizing credit card usage for preferential loan rates will be improved. The conditions for preferential rates, which are provided based on salary transfers and card usage, will be relaxed, and the items excluded from usage recognition, which have frequently led to complaints, will be minimized.
The Financial Supervisory Service announced on July 22 that it will implement measures to improve the calculation method for credit card usage recognition among loan interest reduction conditions in collaboration with the banking sector, starting in the second half of this year.
However, there has been a lack of guidance on the calculation method and exclusion criteria for credit card usage, leading to frequent complaints from consumers who are unaware of the conditions for interest reductions or who do not receive preferential rates as expected.
In the future, banks will be required to provide detailed information on the calculation method for credit card usage and the excluded items through loan agreements, websites, and apps. For long-term loans exceeding five years, they will regularly inform customers of the interest reduction conditions via mobile messages or emails.
The items excluded from credit card usage recognition will also be reduced. Currently, banks operate exclusion criteria ranging from four to eight items, including cash advances, card loans, revolving credit, government subsidies, deferred transportation cards, and annual fees. This will be minimized to just one item, such as card loans or deferred transportation cards.
Additionally, credit card usage will be recognized equally for debit card transactions. Previously, some banks did not recognize debit card usage or applied lower interest reductions compared to credit cards, but the same criteria will now apply.
Improvements will also be made regarding installment payments. Previously, some banks only reflected installment payment amounts as current usage, but going forward, they will recognize the amounts as monthly usage divided by the number of installment months.
The system improvements are expected to be implemented sequentially starting in September or October this year for new loan customers, following the necessary system development and agreement revisions by each bank.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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