The financial MyData domain is set to expand from individuals to sole proprietors and small merchants. Services will also broaden from simple information lookups to agents that carry out actual financial actions. As a result, financial firms are expected to seek new business opportunities in groupwide data sharing among affiliates, while fintech companies look to AI-driven loan execution and the sole proprietor market.

According to the Financial Services Commission's development plan for MyData in the AI era released on Aug. 25, the FSC will push to introduce MyData for sole proprietors, roll out a "My AI Agent" and expand data use. The main point is to expand the right to request transmission of credit information, and the scope of MyData services, from individuals to "all credit information subjects."

Sales and taxes in one place as sole proprietor market expands

If sole proprietors and small merchants are included in MyData, it will lay the groundwork for managing in one place information scattered across multiple sources in the course of running a business.

At present, sole proprietors have a mix of personal and corporate credit information, and business-related information such as sales and taxes is also dispersed across institutions. In a 2023 survey cited by the FSC, 61 percent of sole proprietors said they have difficulty managing dispersed information such as sales and fees. Some financial firms and fintech companies provide related services such as Cash Note, "Soho Mate" and "IBK BOX," but the FSC judges that a lack of a common authentication and information-sharing system limits services.

The overhaul includes a plan to integrate as MyData financial, commercial and public information under a sole proprietor's name. It includes financial information such as deposits and loans, trade finance, cards and insurance, as well as sales, payment amounts and transaction items, national and local tax and four major social insurance payment histories, business registration information, and electricity, water and gas bills and telecom expenses.

The FSC plans to use this to identify a workplace's business situation and future growth potential and apply it to alternative credit scoring. It would create a basis to analyse actual sales and various payment information alongside existing financial transaction histories. The FSC specified "providing various integrated information for use in alternative credit scoring" as a detailed task for sole proprietor MyData.

MyData operators are also focusing on the potential to expand the sole proprietor market.

A BankSalad official said, "We think sole proprietor MyData is an important area where we should enter and provide user benefits." The official added, "If an AI agent not only collects and analyses information on a user's behalf but also executes necessary tasks, it may provide greater benefits and utility in the sole proprietor area than for individuals."

From MyData that 'shows' to AI that 'executes'

MyData's role will also change significantly. Until now it has pulled up and shown users' assets and credit information and recommended financial products, but the plan is to expand it to the stage of exercising financial rights or carrying out application procedures at a user's direction.

The FSC is pushing to introduce My AI Agent for this. Examples of delegated tasks include exercising the right to request an interest rate cut and the right to request debt adjustment, applying for relief for voice phishing 피해, applying for policy funds and refinancing loans, requesting reductions in credit card fees and annual fees, and searching for and automatically claiming unclaimed insurance money.

Within the fintech industry, loans are seen as the area that can be combined with AI agents first. That is because related infrastructure, from comparing and checking interest rates to refinancing, is relatively more in place than in other financial areas.

BankSalad, which has advanced personalised financial information analysis and recommendation services, is reviewing expanding services in a direction that supports executing users' financial actions using AI agents.

A BankSalad official said, "We see loans as the area where, once an AI agent gains execution functions, it can be commercialised the fastest or provide practical help to users." The official said it is considering prioritising turning loans into AI agent functions. That would link not only to finding lower-interest loans for users but also to the actual refinancing process.

The consent method will also change so that AI agents can perform tasks in a timely manner. The FSC plans to allow a one-time blanket consent in advance when the purpose, scope, method and period of the service are specifically set.

A BankSalad official explained, "An important change is that through this institutional improvement, even if users do not individually consent each time, an AI agent can handle tasks users want in a timely manner within a purpose and scope set in advance."

Financial groups focus on data sharing, expecting affiliate synergies

Banks are interested in a system that allows joint use of personal credit information among affiliates.

Currently, even if there is a MyData operator within a financial holding company, there are restrictions on sharing and using information among affiliates. The FSC plans to overhaul the system so that holding company affiliates or strategic partners can use data as joint users when the purpose of use, data items and management responsibility are clearly disclosed in advance.

A banking industry official said it would become possible to share information on non-bank financial assets and transaction histories with affiliates in those sectors, enabling MyData analysis and financial proposals and consultations that draw on expertise in areas such as securities, insurance and consumption.

The structure in which multiple affiliates within a group had to compete to secure and retain their own MyData customers is also expected to ease. The banking official explained, "For customers, it could reduce confusion from having to use services by affiliate separately, and for financial groups it could improve MyData operating efficiency."

Along with joint data use, the FSC also plans to set standards so that a MyData operator can combine and analyse information collected in its main business with information secured as a MyData operator. It is also pushing a plan to add virtual asset and policy-based inclusive finance information to the scope of data provided through MyData.

As the area in which AI substitutes for actual financial actions expands, there are calls to also specify responsibility and consumer protection standards. The FSC plans to create an obligation, when using AI agents, to record and store the entire process before delegated execution and to explain to consumers the reasons for execution, what was carried out and the results.

The FSC will push to revise the Credit Information Act starting in the second half of this year. Even before the law passes, it plans to allow operators that meet requirements to run pilot programs through designation as an innovative financial service.

Another industry official said, "We view positively that the financial authorities continuously make new attempts to activate MyData." The official added, "We hope it will be widely used in the field in practice and lead to consumer benefits, not only in presented figures or institutional achievements."