The Korea Fintech Industry Association (Korfin) Wednesday urged the National Assembly to pass three key data economy bills.

The three bills touch credit information, personal data privacy, and information telecommunication.

The association said South Korea falls behind the United States, China, and the EU in the data industry as the government tightly controls the use of personal information.

It said the data economy would power the global economy in the coming decade. However, South Korean companies have a tough time in using data for industrial purposes due to the tight but sometimes outdated control of personal information.

On the same day, the associations for banks, investment, insurance, and other financial federations urged the government to pass the pending bills.

Personal data would power artificial intelligence, platform, and other marketing business, they said. They warned Korea would sustain a considerable national loss unless the bills become law.

By global standards, Korea tightly controls personal data out of privacy concerns. Many scholars predict the world would see the emergence of the data economy in the coming decade.