The Credit Finance Association of Korea (CREFIA) has been stressing the importance of creative finance for the convenience of financial customers and for diversification of its members’ income.
CREFIA also upgraded its research and survey institute to a “credit finance research institute” recently. Its goal is to strengthen research on Fintech.
The association also plans to make a credit finance forum it holds jointly with academia a regular event.
CREFIA has been taking all kinds the measures since financial authorities declared that its control over credit card firms will become a “negative system,” meaning it will make public activities that go against regulations, while leaving everything else up to credit card companies.
CREFIA will also take measures to help member firms adjust their operations to the new systems after they study them carefully.
The credit card firms set up their own new payment settlement systems last December to help cardholders.
The association plans to provide a simple online payment settlement system. Such a system would only need to verify certification numbers one time for payment agencies like Paypal and Alipay with credit card firms.
CREFIA has also been helping the credit card firms with information on how the credit card market would change with the rapid growth of the simple online payment settlement system so that they may be able to draw up effective strategies to cope with changes in the market.
CREFIA has been help the card firms on lease and installment finance firms online financial transactions, as they need to spur online and mobile financial transactions. Up to now, they have been relying solely on agents to secure borrowers.
CREFIA opened an online loan marketplace on its homepage in 2011 for those with low credit scores who need loans. Borrowers can browse through the homepage and choose an installment finance firms that offers loans with the lowest interest rates. From 2012, employees of business firms were allowed to borrow loans from the market. CREFIA’s moves have been effective in reducing the number of illegal loan borrowers and increasing the number of transparent loan borrowers through its homepage.
CREFIA was established in 1998 as a non-profit organization with the members of Credit Specialized Financial Business Companies, such as Credit Card, Leasing, Installment Financing and Venture Capital companies.
CREFIA is making every effort to achieve the sound development of the Credit Specialized Financial Business Industry through constructive cooperation, information sharing and the promotion of research for mutual benefits of the members.
“We devote ourselves to a new development of a variety of financial products, the creation of new markets and the expansion of business boundaries while coping with the rapidly changing financial environment,” the company said. “We provide recommendations and make requests to the government authorities to initiate new system and effective enforcement of government policies, which will help the growth and the success of our industry in the long term prospective.”
The association has 66 companies as members; eight Credit Card companies, 22 Leasing companies, 19 Installment Financing companies and 17 Venture Capital companies, Chairman Kim Keun-soo said on the CREFIA homepage.
_CFA 여신금융 김근수 02.JPG)
