BNK Investment Securities conducts full audit of online 'dark patterns'

BNK Investment Securities (CEO Shin Myung-ho) said Monday it has built a comprehensive response framework — including a company-wide task force — to get ahead of the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service's guidelines on dark patterns in online financial product sales and to strengthen consumer protection.

A "dark pattern" refers to a deceptive design technique that manipulates consumers into making unintended choices or taking unintended actions by exploiting confusion or mistakes during online interactions. Financial regulators began enforcing guidelines in April that address 15 types of dark patterns that can arise in the online sale of financial products.

BNK Investment Securities formed a task force under its chief consumer officer, drawing in relevant departments to conduct an internal review of every online touchpoint used by customers.

The firm carried out a full audit of its major channels — including its MTS, home trading system and disclosure website — checking each against all 15 dark-pattern types identified in the guidelines. Items requiring improvement are being addressed sequentially from the customer's perspective.

Going forward, the company plans to make pre-screening for dark patterns mandatory whenever new screens are developed or existing ones are modified, further strengthening consumer protection.

Alongside this, the firm ran a participatory program to raise consumer-protection awareness among its staff. All employees received education on the concept of dark patterns and real-world application cases, and an internal "find the dark pattern" contest along with a customer panel system were used to identify areas for improvement in live service screens. Outstanding improvement cases are to be incorporated into screen redesigns on a rolling basis.

"This is part of our effort to ensure customers can choose financial products in a transparent and objective environment," said Park Du-hui, chief consumer officer at BNK Investment Securities. "We will put financial consumer protection first and establish ourselves as a financial company our customers can trust."