Total Target of 5,000 Counseling Participants, Four Times Increase Compared to Last Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 27th that it will start face-to-face Seoul Youngtech consultations from the 2nd of next month.
Seoul Youngtech, launched in November, is a key youth support project by Seoul City that provides financial technology education and customized consultations necessary for young people. Until now, only non-face-to-face financial consultations were conducted due to the COVID-19 situation, but face-to-face consultations will be expanded to allow for more in-depth counseling.
Face-to-face consultations will be conducted by having counselors visit the location desired by the young person, such as near their residence or workplace, considering the COVID-19 situation. Starting in May, a professional counselor will be stationed at the ‘Seoul Youngtech Consultation Space’ to be established at the Seoul City Hall Citizen Hall, allowing visitors to receive face-to-face consultations there.
Face-to-face consultations can be applied for by any young person aged 19 to 39 residing in Seoul who wishes to receive financial counseling, starting from the 28th via the Seoul Youth Portal. Non-face-to-face consultations are also available. The target number of consultations for both face-to-face and non-face-to-face is 5,000, which is four times the number of consultations from the previous year.
Since the launch of the Seoul Youngtech project, about 1,300 non-face-to-face financial consultations have been conducted, and young participants applied for Seoul Youngtech consultations to check their comprehensive financial status. Satisfaction scores for the consultations and counselors were high, at 4.62 and 4.79 out of 5, respectively. The main reason for satisfaction was that participants could have their financial status checked by experts for free without being recommended specific financial products.
Going forward, Seoul City plans to establish a cooperative system with financial experts and financial institutions to ensure that the financial consultation reports provided to young participants are personalized, helping Seoul Youngtech become a universally satisfying service for youth. In addition, the city plans to expand the base for supporting youth asset formation continuously by linking services so that participants in the representative youth policy ‘Seoul Youth Allowance,’ scheduled to be recruited this year, can also participate in Seoul Youngtech financial consultations.
Meanwhile, Seoul City will provide online financial education content reflecting the latest financial technology trends such as quant investing and REITs investing, and regularly hold Seoul Youngtech talk shows featuring financial technology influencers.
Kim Cheol-hee, head of the Future Youth Planning Group, said, "While young people taking their first steps into society desperately need proper financial knowledge to become economically independent, the financial technology area for youth has been a blind spot. In that regard, Seoul Youngtech is a very meaningful project, and we will strive to improve the financial situation of young people going forward.”
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