"I thought it was an allowance account, but it held 1 billion won?" Nearly 2,600 minors hold deposits and savings worth at least 100 million won

[Financial News] The number of minor customers who had deposited at least 100 million won in deposits and savings with domestic banks this year was found to be close to 2,600. Although most minor customers had balances below 1 million won, the number of those holding financial assets worth hundreds of millions of won is also increasing. Concerns have been raised that the sources of funds and gift tax reporting should be closely examined to ensure there are no blind spots in the transfer of large financial assets to minors.
According to data submitted by Park Sung-hoon, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly Political Affairs Committee, from the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB), the combined balance of deposits and installment savings held by minors aged 18 or younger at 19 domestic deposit banks stood at 9.7413 trillion won as of the end of July this year. That was a 17.6% increase from 8.2865 trillion won at the end of 2022. The figure includes transaction deposits, time deposits and installment savings. Over the same period, the number of minor accounts rose 36.0%, from 6,615,941 to 8,995,055.
Holdings varied considerably by customer. When each individual's deposits and installment savings across multiple accounts were combined, 2,419 minors had combined balances of at least 100 million won but less than 500 million won as of the end of July. Another 124 had balances of at least 500 million won but less than 1 billion won, while 52 had 1 billion won or more. However, these figures represent the sum of bank-level tallies, so minors who use multiple banks may have been counted more than once.
Most minors had only small amounts in deposits and installment savings, with balances below 1 million won. A total of 5,602,273 minors fell into this category, accounting for 77.5% of the total. Hana Bank had the largest number of minor customers holding at least 100 million won, at 566. It was followed by KB Kookmin Bank with 540, Shinhan Bank with 437, Woori Bank with 422 and NH NongHyup Bank with 172.
By account, the total balance of accounts in minors' names holding at least 100 million won stood at around 514 billion won as of the end of July. Funds held in the names of preschool-age children were also substantial. Deposits and installment savings held in the names of children aged 0 to 5 totaled 2.1399 trillion won, accounting for 22.0% of all deposits and installment savings held by minors. This age group held 1,123,996 accounts.
The age group with the largest balance was children aged 6 to 12, at 3.5864 trillion won. Those aged 16 to 18 held 2.1463 trillion won, while those aged 13 to 15 held 1.8688 trillion won.
Minors' holdings of large financial assets were also evident in the stock market. According to separate data submitted by Park Sung-hoon from the Korea Securities Depository (KSD), 5,400 minors held at least 100 million won worth of domestically listed stocks at the end of last year. The total value of domestic listed stocks held by minors reached 7.3113 trillion won.
[email protected] Lee Hyun-jung Reporter