Korea SoHo Bank Challenges 4th Banking License... "Will Achieve Customized Financial Innovation for Small Business Owners"

Press Conference Held at Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 1st
Kim Dongho, CEO of Korea Credit Data, Leading the Consortium
"We Will Help Small Business Owners Grow into Enterprises"

▲ Kim Dong-ho, CEO of Korea Credit Data, leading the Korea Soho Bank consortium, is making a presentation at a press conference held at the Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Provided by Korea Soho Bank consortium.

The Korea SOHO Bank consortium, which has challenged to become the 4th internet-only bank, unveiled its vision to achieve financial innovation by providing customized financial services for small business owners.

On the 1st, the Korea SOHO Bank consortium held a press conference at the Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, presenting the vision of "Financial Innovation Tailored for Small Business Owners" and revealing plans to offer customized financial innovation services for small business owners.

The Korea SOHO Bank consortium expressed its ambition to provide innovative products and services for small business owners and small enterprises, including ▲small business credit evaluation based on actual business data ▲supply chain finance to solve cash flow problems of small business owners ▲customized support fund and loan connections tailored to individual business conditions ▲and a small business policy finance notifier.

Kim Dong-ho, CEO of Korea Credit Data, leading the consortium, stated, "More than half of the business establishments in Korea are small businesses, and one-quarter of the economically active population in Korea works at small business establishments, yet there has been no specialized bank for small business owners until now," adding, "We will establish a bank that helps small business owners succeed and grow into enterprises."

Korea SOHO Bank plans to utilize differentiated data to provide innovative credit products. Korea Credit Data has secured abundant data that can gauge the present and future of business establishments, such as real-time sales flow, industry characteristics, regional characteristics, and revisit rates, through the management service 'Cash Note' introduced at 1.7 million business establishments nationwide. Korea Evaluation Information (KSC), an affiliate of Korea Credit Data, is the only specialized credit evaluation company for sole proprietors in Korea. Based on the data secured by Korea Credit Data, it has built a customized credit evaluation model for small business owners and provided it to banks and government agencies. Korea SOHO Bank plans to implement differentiated risk management through industry-specific and region-specific loan management, which was previously impossible in the existing banking sector, using this data and credit evaluation model.

At the press conference, the Korea SOHO Bank consortium unveiled two innovative financial products for small business owners. The first innovative products are 'Later Payment' and 'Today Settlement.' Both products are 'supply chain finance' products designed to resolve cash flow mismatches arising from transactions between small business owners. 'Later Payment' is a method where the bank pays first when purchasing necessary goods for the business and later collects the money from the business owner. 'Today Settlement' is a method where the bank advances the money to be received later from a client and later collects it from the client.

CEO Kim explained, "Through this service, small business owners can solve temporary cash shortages and operate their businesses stably," adding, "Korea SOHO Bank plans to minimize risk by conducting credit evaluations based on tax invoice-based actual transaction data and verifying whether the transactions actually took place."

The second innovative product is 'Customized Support Fund and Loan Connection.' CEO Kim said, "Business owners come to the bank to find money, not to get loans," adding, "We will first connect government, local government, and related institution support funds that can be received based on business information, then combine financial products from Korea SOHO Bank and its partners to provide optimal loans." Additionally, for business owners who have taken multiple loans from various financial companies or those who received loans at high interest rates due to improper assessment of business capabilities, the bank plans to offer a 'Debt Consolidation Loan' that consolidates high-interest loans into a single medium- to low-interest loan. CEO Kim explained, "Through these services, we can reduce the financing costs of small business owners, restore their credit ratings, and enhance business stability."

Korea SOHO Bank announced plans to provide a 'banking service' that naturally integrates into the daily services used by small business owners and reaches out to them. Instead of simply waiting for customers to visit through the bank app or website, the bank intends to reach small business owners through POS devices used daily by small business owners or the Cash Note app introduced at 1.7 million business establishments nationwide. CEO Kim said, "We also plan to offer a 'VAT Parking Account' that aggregates real-time sales through Cash Note and automatically calculates the expected VAT to pre-accumulate the tax payment amount."

Korea SOHO Bank will also serve as a policy finance notifier for small business owners. Based on the business owner's industry, business duration, sales scale, and other factors, the bank will automatically and timely recommend necessary policy finance and support the completion of policy support fund applications with just a few touches through AI document automation.

CEO Kim stated, "Korea SOHO Bank will provide customized financial and non-financial services tailored to all life cycles of small business owners?from startup, growth, crisis overcoming, exit, to re-startup?together with Korea Credit Data, the only unicorn company specializing in small business owners in Korea," adding, "We will always be with small business owners as the 'first bank for small business owners' so that their efforts lead to growth and their challenges become growth."

Meanwhile, the Korea SOHO Bank consortium includes three of the five major financial holding banks: Hana Bank, Woori Bank, and NH Nonghyup Bank. In addition, BNK Busan Bank, the top regional bank, OK Savings Bank, Heungkuk Life Insurance, Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance, Eugene Investment & Securities, and Woori Card also joined. IT companies such as LG CNS, ITCEN, Megazone Cloud, and TIS also participated.