Gwangju Bank's Inclusive Finance Center is playing a significant role as a protector of low-income finance.
The Inclusive Finance Center was established in November 2019 to provide specialized financial services such as funding support, debt adjustment counseling, and management consulting to local small business owners and low-income individuals.
As of the end of October, the number of cases executed by the Inclusive Finance Center totaled 3,012, with the amount disbursed reaching 64.189 billion KRW. This represents a sharp increase of 61.2% and 49.3%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
This is analyzed to be due to a significant increase in financially vulnerable individuals, such as small business owners struggling with management difficulties and low-income people suffering from living hardships, whose credit ratings have dropped amid the high inflation and high interest rates that have intensified since the second half of last year.
The Inclusive Finance Center supports refinancing loans such as capital and private loans and also provides timely support for startup funds needed by small business owners.
In 2020, the center was recognized for these contributions by the Financial Supervisory Service and received an Excellence Award in the Inclusive Finance Management Consulting Support category.
The Inclusive Finance Center operates with the goal of inducing a virtuous cycle in the local economy by providing practical help to all small business owners in the region.
From financial support based on customized counseling to education and management consulting that help improve financial difficulties, the center proposes accurate assessments of customers’ economic situations and financial solutions.
In particular, through the CMS (Credit Management Service) currently implemented to include customers who previously used high-interest loans from secondary financial institutions and private lenders into the primary financial sector, the center supports small business owners who were unable to cross the threshold of institutional finance and were being redirected to savings banks and private lenders, enabling them to transact with primary financial institutions.
A Gwangju Bank official stated on the 14th, "We plan to continue strengthening the public role of finance by faithfully serving as a driving force within the regional economic ecosystem, devising various financial support measures to ensure timely financial assistance for local small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners."
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