JT Chin-ae Savings Bank Living Up to Its Name... Comprehensive Support for Low-Income Financial Services

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] JT Chin-ae Savings Bank is drawing attention for its comprehensive financial support for low-income people.

According to the financial sector on the 23rd, JT Chin-ae Savings Bank is leading the activation of mid-interest loans for customers with medium to low credit ratings.

In 2015, this savings bank launched the industry's first mid-interest loan product called 'Wonderful Wow Loan' with an annual interest rate in the 10% range for medium to low credit customers with credit ratings from 4 to 7. Since October 2018, the product has been subdivided into ▲Wonderful J Loan ▲Wonderful T Loan ▲Wonderful Debt Consolidation Loan according to loan limits and conditions, expanding the range of choices. As of the end of June, the cumulative loan amount of these products reached 1.4 trillion won.

They have also lowered the interest rates on unsecured loans, steadily increasing the proportion of loans with interest rates below 20% per annum. According to the disclosure by the Korea Federation of Savings Banks, the proportion of new unsecured loans with interest rates below 20% at JT Chin-ae Savings Bank recorded 97% in January and has consistently maintained the high 90% range. Especially in the recent three months severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the rates were 98.58% (June), 98.45% (July), and 98.76% (August), approaching 99%. This means that most unsecured loan customers borrowed money at interest rates below 20%.

Since April last year, they have also been recommending reasonable loan products to medium to low credit customers through the introduction of a personal credit evaluation system (CSS) utilizing machine learning technology.

A JT Chin-ae Savings Bank official said, “As the difficulties of the low-income economy are increasing due to the recent resurgence of COVID-19, we will do our best to establish ourselves as a reliable financial institution supporting low-income people.”