"Interest Returned"... Hana Bank Provides 100 Billion KRW Financial Support for Small Businesses

Announcement of Measures Including Interest Refund and Living Expense Support
Support Plan Released Less Than a Week After President's Abuse of Power Criticism

Hana Bank has announced a financial support plan worth 100 billion KRW to assist small business owners. The bank plans to refund interest and provide support for energy living expenses and communication costs. Less than a week after President Yoon Seok-yeol criticized the banking sector using expressions such as 'bank servitude' and 'power harassment,' the bank unveiled this win-win financial plan.

Hana Bank announced on the 3rd that it will implement this financial support measure. Targeting approximately 300,000 individual business customers, the bank plans to promote ▲interest cashback ▲expansion of low-income financial supply ▲support for energy living expenses and communication costs ▲management consulting support.

Specifically, starting next month, the bank will run a 4 billion KRW ‘interest cashback’ program for about 2,500 customers who have deferred principal or interest payments due to difficulties caused by COVID-19, refunding the interest paid in the previous month every month for six months.

Additionally, since September, the bank has been implementing its own extension measures for loans totaling about 150 billion KRW for customers whose ‘maturity extension and repayment deferral support measures’ ended, and plans to continue these measures going forward.

Along with this, the bank will operate a total 66.5 billion KRW ‘interest cashback’ program refunding interest to ▲self-employed customers (21,000 people, 21 billion KRW) ▲users of the medium-credit small business policy loan product ‘Hope Plus Guaranteed Loan’ (about 32,000 people, 11.5 billion KRW) ▲new loan customers with guarantees from regional credit guarantee foundations (about 60,000 people, 30 billion KRW).

Support will also be provided for energy living expenses and communication costs. For financially vulnerable self-employed individuals selected by the bank, including users of low-income financial products and high-interest vulnerable borrowers, the bank plans to provide up to 200,000 KRW per person, totaling about 30 billion KRW, for energy living expenses. For new franchise small business customers, 50,000 KRW per person (about 2 billion KRW) will be provided for communication costs, and selected individual business loan customers will receive consulting fees of 500,000 KRW per person (about 1.5 billion KRW).

Meanwhile, coinciding with the announcement of these measures, Lee Seung-yeol, CEO of Hana Bank, Kang Sung-mook, CEO of Hana Securities (Group Vice Chairman), Lee Ho-sung, CEO of Hana Card, and other executives of Hana Financial Group visited Gwangjang Market in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to listen to the difficulties faced by small business owners. CEO Lee stated, "In an era of prolonged high interest rates and high inflation, financial support measures that provide real help to self-employed customers are necessary," adding, "We will stand by self-employed and small business customers until the end with substantial and meticulous support, including the expansion of low-income financial services."