135 Billion KRW in New Loans, 11.98% Mid-Rate Interest
Over 40% of Borrowers Have Credit Scores Between 595 and 709
Most Loans Under 100 Million KRW, Primarily for Living Expenses
On August 26, PFCT announced that its online investment-linked finance platform, Kple, handled 135 billion KRW in new home mortgage loans in the first half of this year. Among its customers, nine out of ten were individuals with mid- to low-credit scores.
According to PFCT, the total outstanding balance of Kple’s home mortgage loans in the first half of the year was 189.7 billion KRW, a slight decrease compared to the same period last year (209.6 billion KRW). However, the amount of new loans originated increased by 18.3% to 135 billion KRW. This was the result of new supply expanding while existing loans were being repaid.
The weighted average interest rate was 11.93%. For the first half of the year, the Financial Services Commission announced the maximum interest rates for private mid-rate loans by sector: 12.39% for credit card companies, 15.50% for capital companies, and 17.14% for savings banks. Kple provided loans at lower interest rates than these benchmarks.
A PFCT representative explained, "This proves that online investment-linked finance is serving as an alternative in the private mid-rate loan market."
As of the end of June, the delinquency rate on outstanding loans was 6.59%, and the loss rate on cumulative loan amounts was 0.35%. This means that even as new supply increased, soundness was maintained through artificial intelligence (AI)-based risk management.
In the first half of the year, nine out of ten (90.8%) home mortgage loan customers were mid- to low-credit borrowers. In particular, more than 40% of borrowers had credit scores (based on NICE) in the 595-709 range. More than half of borrowers (58.8%) had annual incomes of 60 million KRW or less, which is around the median household income in Korea.
The size and purpose of the loans were also closely tied to everyday life. More than half (53.37%) of all loans were for amounts under 100 million KRW. The primary purposes were living expenses (75.7%) and refinancing at lower interest rates (13.8%). This means that 89.5% of customers used the loans to secure funds for daily living or to improve their debt structure.
By region, approximately 78% of loans were concentrated in Seoul and the metropolitan area.
Lee Suhwan, CEO of PFCT, said, "Kple’s mid-rate home mortgage loans are providing breathing room for mid- to low-credit borrowers in need of living funds," adding, "We will continue to strengthen inclusive finance for real demand customers in financial blind spots and further advance our AI risk management solutions."
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