Lee Gyemun, President of the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, "Introducing PB System in Inclusive Finance"

Lee Gye-moon, President of the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency and Chairman of the Credit Recovery Committee

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Lee Gye-moon, President of the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency (KIFA) and Chairman of the Credit Recovery Committee, announced on the 23rd that he will establish a Private Banker (PB) system within the inclusive finance system.

Marking his 2nd anniversary next month, President Lee held an online press conference to make this announcement.

The inclusive finance PB system promoted by President Lee focuses on prevention, customized support, and post-management.

First, it provides education in advance to young people and vulnerable groups with low financial literacy to prevent them from falling into financial difficulties. When difficulties arise, customized inclusive finance support is provided centered on the Inclusive Finance Integrated Support Center. Additionally, after receiving support from inclusive finance, their credit status is tracked and managed to help improve their credit ratings again.

President Lee also stated that he plans to collaborate with financial institutions to develop deposit and loan products for diligent repayors.

He said, "KIFA and the Credit Recovery Committee are not welfare institutions but serve as a social safety net within the financial sector, helping people at the margins become economically independent by applying market principles. Just as you call '119' when there is a fire, I want to widely promote the call center '1397' as the go-to resource when facing debt difficulties."

He also emphasized, "The digitalization of the inclusive finance sector and the transition to 'paperless counters' are essential to improving service quality."

Previously, in December last year, KIFA and the Credit Recovery Committee launched an application (app) to provide inclusive finance service guidance remotely. 24-hour consultation via chatbot also became available.

President Lee said, "Among the total 78,000 applicants for special repayment deferral and special support for debt adjustment, which began due to the impact of COVID-19 in March-April this year, 69,000 applied remotely. Without remote services, all of them would have had to visit the Inclusive Finance Integrated Support Center."

He explained, "Especially, the Credit Recovery Committee had a consultation reservation backlog of 3 to 4 weeks last year, but as of the end of July this year, it has been reduced to 3.6 days. Since the number of visitors to the center has also decreased significantly, staff can now provide consultations more effectively."

President Lee added that paperless counters can reduce document preparation time and improve consultation efficiency.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.