Seogeumwon Reports 650 Billion KRW in Customized Loans for Ordinary Citizens Last Year, Up 125% from Previous Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The Korea Inclusive Finance Agency announced on the 17th that it provided customized loans totaling approximately 650 billion KRW to about 60,000 low-income individuals last year.

According to the agency, through the customized loan consultation channel for low-income finance, it mediated loans amounting to 649.3 billion KRW for 60,861 people last year. This represents a significant increase compared to 2018 (23,476 people, 288.3 billion KRW), with the number of supported individuals rising by 159% and the loan amount increasing by 125%.

The average interest rate for all customized loans was 11.3% per annum (12.77% including the Hae-sal-loan 17 launched last September), which is 9.5 percentage points lower than the average loan interest rate of 20.8% in the private lending industry. The agency analyzed that this greatly contributed to alleviating financial difficulties and reducing financial costs for low-income individuals.

Additionally, among the customized loan recipients, 74.7% (91.5% including Hae-sal-loan 17) were low-credit borrowers with a credit rating of 6 or below and low-income individuals earning less than 35 million KRW annually, strengthening financial inclusion for vulnerable groups who otherwise would have to rely on high-interest loans exceeding 20%.

The agency explained that this performance increase is attributed to promotional effects from field visits and the launch of Hae-sal-loan 17, as well as the revamping of the customized loan system reflecting voices from the field.

The customized loan service is a comprehensive loan information platform that allows users to easily and quickly compare and apply for policy-based low-income financial products and financial company loan products by entering the necessary loan information at once. It is available through the agency’s customized loan application (app), website, the Korea Inclusive Finance Call Center, and the Integrated Support Center for Low-Income Finance.