Naver Financial Evolving into a 'Portal' for Personal Business Loans

3Q Loan Brokerage Service Launch Outlook for SMEs

Sangjin Park, CEO of Naver Financial (Provided by Naver Financial)

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Naver Financial will launch the industry's first loan comparison service for individual business owners in the second half of the year. This contrasts with internet-only banks rushing to release loans for individual business owners. It is expected that various loan products will be introduced in the future, evolving into a loan brokerage 'portal.'

According to the industry on the 18th, Naver Financial plans to launch a loan comparison service for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the third quarter. It had already obtained a loan product sales agency license at the end of last year. This means that the loan brokerage service is starting in the B2B (business-to-business) sector rather than B2C (business-to-consumer).

Unlike internet banks such as Toss Bank and Kakao Bank, which are based on big tech and are launching loans for individual business owners, Naver is expected to establish itself as a portal that compares and searches various financial products. While specialized business loan products will be introduced, it is also expected to promote product development tailored to the characteristics of financial companies and business owners. The launch of the 'Smartplace Business Owner Loan' was already announced for this month. It plans to provide loans in partnership with Woori Bank and Jeonbuk Bank to 2.5 million SMEs exposed on Naver Search and Maps.

In the future, it is expected to move beyond simple comparison and search to 'product recommendation.' Based on the influence accumulated in this way, it may also expand into the personal loan sector as well as small business owners. This is the background behind the tension among existing loan brokerage services such as Finda, Toss, and Kakao Pay.

Heo Jisoo, a researcher at Daishin Securities, analyzed, "It is unfortunate that it is 'brokerage' rather than direct finance, but Naver Financial CEO Park Sangjin hinted at the potential possibility by saying, 'If it is necessary for innovative finance, we may acquire a financial business license,' which means that they intend to revive the fintech business. Also, if the platform brokerage model alone can have competitiveness in data analysis and product recommendation, it can definitely be adopted as a business model."