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These days, banks are competing with each other by offering products with high interest rates.

However, even for the same product, more interest is paid when signing up through the Internet or a smartphone, so the elderly who are not good at handling machines do not enjoy these benefits.



Reporter Lim Tae-woo reports.



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A credit union recently offered a 7% installment savings interest.



There is a long line waiting for their turn to sign up, but most of the customers are older people.



You can sign up through the Internet or mobile, but you are not familiar with how to use it, so you came here yourself.



[Senior user: I have to do this again and get it within that size and send it.

It 's very difficult if you don't handle your cell phone skillfully.]



Currently, there are 21 products that give more than 4% interest among 1-year bank time deposits.



Among these products, the highest interest rate is 4.9% for 10 products signed up at the counter, while non-face-to-face products give interest up to 5.1% for 19 products, which is close to twice.



In particular, all high-interest products with an interest rate of more than 5% are non-face-to-face only.



Non-face-to-face products do not require labor costs for bank employees, so they can afford to pay more interest rates.



However, the elderly who are not proficient in using IT devices have no choice but to stay away from these benefits.



Last year, more than 80% of seniors in their 60s and older visited branches and purchased savings and savings products.



[Lee Kwang-tae/Senior Financial Education Council Secretary General: Banks are now closing stores and switching to non-face-to-face channels.

Because the transition to digital is much faster, many people are not getting education even if they are educated...

.]



As the so-called 'digital divide', in which the social and economic gap widens depending on the ability to use digital technology, is becoming a reality, it is time for the authorities to think about ways to bridge the gap together with financial institutions.



(Video editing: Choi Hye-young, VJ: Park Hyun-woo)