Since 1946, when the first computer in the world was developed, many developed countries have made great efforts to improve their national qualities of life and economic efficiency by promoting informatization, which means to enable various activities to be carried on or to ensure the efficiency in all sectors of society by producing, distributing or utilizing information through various devices such as computers and telecommunication instruments.

The informatization of financial institutions in Korea is known to have begun in the late 1960s, when salary payments of banks were computerized. However, the popularization of the financial informatization began in the late 1970s, when deposit banks designed their internal on-line networks and office automation systems.

With the recent environmental changes, such as the rapid development of information technology(IT), the diversification of customer desires, the increasing labor costs of financial institutions and the dramatic rise in the payment and settlement volume, informatization of the financial industry has made more progress. By coping with these changes appropriately and promoting the financial informationalization efficiently, the financial industry has been able to achieve various objectives, including same-day settlement, solution of financial space and time limit problems, laying the foundation for introduction of developed financial skills, systematic collection and management of financial information, etc.

Financial informatization in Korea has been promoted not only by the official promotion organization, the Committee on Financial Informatization Promotion(hereinafter referred to as the “CFIP”), but also by the financial institutions themselves. However, most large-scale projects, requiring the mutual cooperation of more than two institutions, have been promoted through the CFIP in accordance with the related acts and regulations.