Gwangju Bank Awards Outstanding Employees Linked to Inclusive Finance Loans

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Gwangju Bank recently announced on the 9th that it held an awards ceremony for outstanding employees linked to inclusive finance loans.

Inclusive finance loans are loan products sold by the Gwangju Bank Inclusive Finance Center to strengthen financial support for local small business owners and low-income earners. Each branch of Gwangju Bank actively provides financial support by referring suitable customers for inclusive finance loans to the Inclusive Finance Center during customer consultations.

Song Jong-wook, President of Gwangju Bank, selects and awards outstanding employees linked to inclusive finance loans every month to promote these referral activities, and two employees were selected as awardees for July.

Among the outstanding employees, one showed particular interest in the ‘Dong-gu Office Low-credit Low-income & Small Business Interest Support Project,’ a collaboration between Gwangju Bank, Dong-gu Office of Gwangju Metropolitan City, and the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency. This employee actively marketed the benefit of a 5% loan interest rate support by visiting nearby stores even after work hours, resulting in linking five cases totaling 60 million KRW to inclusive finance loans within a month.

Through this, Mr. A (operating a cosmetics retail store), who received 30 million KRW in financial support and saved 1.5 million KRW in interest costs over a year, said, “Due to the prolonged impact of COVID-19, I desperately needed operating funds for my store, but I was worried whether I could get an additional loan because I already had many loans. However, thanks to the kind consultation from Gwangju Bank, I was able to not only execute the loan but also receive interest cost support, for which I am truly grateful.”

Song Jong-wook, President of Gwangju Bank, awarded the outstanding employees linked to inclusive finance loans, saying, “To repay the support of local residents who have built Gwangju Bank’s 54-year history together, we must do our best in the role and responsibility as the representative bank of Gwangju and Jeonnam. Based on the management philosophy of ‘coexistence with the region, walking together with local residents’ and ‘pursuing values beyond profit,’ I hope all employees unite their will and actively engage in strengthening community-based management and practicing inclusive finance, as well as providing financial support to local small and medium enterprises, small business owners, and low-income earners.”

The Inclusive Finance Center, established on November 20, 2019, to provide financial services specialized for local small business owners and low-income earners, has so far supported 36.6 billion KRW in funds through special inclusive finance loans to over 1,600 small business owners and financially vulnerable groups. It has also provided free management consulting such as marketing, taxation, and commercial area analysis to 929 small business owners, establishing itself as a one-stop comprehensive consultation center for local low-income finance.

Consultations conducted by the Inclusive Finance Center have surpassed 700 cases to date. In 2021 alone, the center completed 315 consultations, the highest number among regional banks, drawing attention for its outstanding management consulting performance.

Last year, the center received the Excellence Award in the Financial Supervisory Service’s Inclusive Finance Management Consulting Support category, recognized for expanding the management consulting system and promoting it by providing specialized consulting services tailored to small business owners through resident professional consultants and financial counseling staff who combined close consulting with financial support know-how.

Such specialized financial support and consultation for local small business owners and low-income earners have spread by word of mouth among local small business owners, self-employed individuals, and prospective entrepreneurs, becoming the reason for the popularity of the Gwangju Bank Inclusive Finance Center. It was also introduced as an excellent case of bank management consulting programs at a forum hosted by the Financial Supervisory Service discussing the operation performance and future plans of support systems for small business owners and self-employed individuals in the banking sector.

Through these outstanding cases, the Gwangju Bank Inclusive Finance Center is known to have provided practical help for the successful start-up of local youth with limited social experience through the ‘Gwangju Metropolitan City Dong-gu Office Chungjang-ro Youth Start-up Vacant House Support Project.’

The ‘Gwangju Metropolitan City Dong-gu Office Chungjang-ro Youth Start-up Vacant House Support Project’ is a project planned by Gwangju Bank, Dong-gu Office of Gwangju Metropolitan City, and the Chungjang Merchants Association to help young self-employed entrepreneurs start businesses and revitalize the Chungjang-ro 4th and 5th districts by utilizing vacant stores to attract a younger customer base.

If selected as a start-up item, the Dong-gu Office of Gwangju Metropolitan City supports monthly rent, Gwangju Bank provides consulting support and financial support throughout the start-up process, and after the start-up, the merchants association operates mentors and provides feedback processes.

Mr. B (operating a handmade crafts retail store), selected for this project with a ‘recycling upcycling’ start-up item, prepared to start a business with the purpose of producing and selling portable bags and accessories handmade from surplus fabric. He was able to reduce costs and expect linked sales by receiving leftover fabric from nearby fabric-related companies concentrated in the area for recycling upcycling.

The Inclusive Finance Center provided close support for Mr. B’s start-up preparation process, from overall start-up consulting including business registration to financial support for interior construction.

In addition to offline sales, the center focused on guiding online sales through smart stores and SNS sales. It also supported promotional activities by participating in local festivals such as the ‘Chungjang-ro Festival’ and events of the local merchants association. Continuous business status briefings and feedback support are also provided after the start-up.

Going forward, the Inclusive Finance Center plans to operate a ‘mentor-mentee’ program for local youth start-ups by combining accumulated experience and know-how. It will also introduce a non-face-to-face consulting platform in line with the digital finance era to provide more systematic and customized inclusive finance services to local small and medium enterprises, small business owners, and low-income earners.