New integrated management account (IMA) products at brokerages sold out shortly after launch, helped by yields around 4 percent that are higher than bank time deposits while offering structures that effectively protect principal. The early success is drawing attention to whether it could trigger larger fund shifts from banks to brokerages, alongside retirement pension transfers that allow customers to switch providers without cancelling existing products. Banks are highlighting taxes and liquidity limits to defend deposits.

South Korea’s financial authorities are considering introducing a cap on brokerage fee rates for online loan comparison and brokerage platforms by revising an enforcement decree under the moneylending law. Officials aim to ease lending-rate burdens at savings banks, where platform fees are higher than at commercial banks. Fintech firms dispute whether fee cuts will lower loan rates and warn the measure could weaken the loan-platform-centric fintech ecosystem, hitting smaller firms hardest.