The Financial Supervisory Service said Thursday it would take stern disciplinary action against insurance firms engaging in irregular sales of financial products on TV home shopping channels.

Aside from the insurance sector, other nonbanking financial firms including credit card issuers will also be placed under tough oversight over their sales improprieties on the Internet.

The FSS noted that a growing number of consumer complaints and dispute cases have been filed with the regulatory agency, as more financial firms were providing insufficient prior notification of terms on insurance policies or credit card products on home shopping or online shopping malls.

Meanwhile, the agency also plans to crack down on financial firms which gloss over requests from borrowers to cut loan rates.

Financial authorities have introduced the legitimate consumer rights of demanding interest rate cuts. But some savings banks and capital service firms have not altered their rates despite the record low benchmark rate of 1.75 percent per annum.

(kys@heraldcorp.com)