On April 9, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) of Korea convened a meeting with fintech companies, venture capitalists, and industry associations to discuss strategies for fostering investment and enhancing support for the fintech sector.

FSC Vice Chairman Kim Soyoung chaired the meeting and emphasized its significance in his opening speech. He noted that persistent high interest rates and global economic uncertainties have dampened investment in startups and the fintech sector. Vice Chairman Kim stressed the need for policy initiatives to rejuvenate the fintech industry and its investment environment to bolster the competitiveness of Korea’s financial industry. He outlined government plans to increase the operation of fintech innovation funds to support promising fintech companies, improve the financial regulatory sandbox program, and assist fintech companies in their international expansion by increasing the availability of policy funds.

As part of its commitment to invigorate fintech investment, the FSC and its partners unveiled a plan to establish a second fintech innovation fund, valued at KRW 500 billion, to operate from 2024 to 2027. This follows the first fintech innovation fund, which operated from 2020 to 2023, raising KRW 513.3 billion and investing KRW 282.4 billion in around 85 fintech startups. Consequently, the total value of fintech innovation funds will reach KRW 1 trillion over eight years, from 2020 to 2027. The creation of the second fund will see significant contributions from major tech platform companies, as agreed upon during last year’s Korea Fintech Week. Moreover, the Korea Growth Investment Corporation will facilitate B2B collaborations and partnerships between fintech companies and major financial and technology firms.

The FSC is committed to incorporating the insights from this meeting to develop more effective policies that will stimulate the fintech sector and its investment landscape.