Financial Transactions in a Deceased Person’s Name to Be Blocked the Day After Death Is Reported

South Korea will begin blocking financial transactions in a deceased person’s name the day after the death is reported, sharply shortening a process that previously could take up to two months.

The government said the rapid blocking system, involving all financial sectors, will officially begin on the 11th. The system aims to prevent financial fraud using the identities of deceased people.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Korea Credit Information Services spent more than a year working with relevant agencies and financial companies to link the process from generating and sharing death information to blocking transactions.

Death information will be provided to the financial sector once a day instead of once a month. Financial companies will check the information in real time during both face-to-face and online transactions, and immediately block a transaction when they confirm that the person concerned has died.