[Weekly Savings Banks] Detecting Malicious Apps to Prevent Voice Phishing and More

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] Welcome Savings Bank has become the first in the industry to incorporate AI-based malicious application (app) pre-detection technology into its mobile banking platform, Welcome Digital Bank (Welbang).

This malicious app detection technology has been applied to the Welbang app since the 2nd of this month. Even those who are not customers of the company can install this app to freely pre-block illegal programs used in voice phishing and other malicious apps.

For testing purposes, from the 28th of last month to the 2nd, a total of 45 malicious apps were detected and blocked after applying the malicious app blocking feature. A representative from Welcome Savings Bank stated, “We expect that elderly customers vulnerable to voice phishing and young customers new to society will be able to use financial services more safely.”

The First Guarantee-backed Loan Exclusively for Small and Medium-sized Businesses by a Savings Bank

The savings bank industry is launching the first guarantee-backed loan product exclusively for small and medium-sized businesses.

The Korea Federation of Savings Banks announced that it signed a guarantee business agreement for the co-growth of small and medium-sized businesses with three savings banks located in Seoul, including Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, to support funds for small and medium-sized businesses struggling due to COVID-19 and other factors.

This guarantee agreement is structured so that the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation supplies guarantees worth 40 billion KRW multiplied by 10, totaling 400 billion KRW, funded by a special contribution of 4 billion KRW from the three companies (SBI, OK, Welcome).

The support targets small and medium-sized businesses operating in Seoul with more than one year of business experience, credit ratings between 1 and 6, and a guarantee limit of 30 million KRW for new applicants. For those already guaranteed, loans up to 50 million KRW including the remaining guarantee balance are available. The guarantee ratio is 95% of the loan amount, and the loan period is within 5 years (1 year grace period and 4 years of installment repayment).

To provide prompt financial support, applicants can submit all necessary documents for loans and guarantees at the savings bank counter in a one-stop manner without visiting the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation.

The interest rate is relatively low, within 6.5% per annum, about 1.3 percentage points lower than the existing policy product, Savings Bank Sunshine Loan.

Chairman Park Jae-sik of the Federation said, “We expect the collaboration between regional financial institutions like savings banks and regional credit guarantee foundations to further strengthen the role of savings banks in regional finance.”

DB Savings Bank Celebrates 48th Anniversary with Event

DB Savings Bank is selling the Dream Big time deposit to celebrate its 48th anniversary.

This product features a preferential interest rate of 0.1 percentage points annually for each 1-year rotation cycle. Upon initial subscription, a preferential interest rate of 0.1 percentage points is provided on the 1-year maturity time deposit interest rate, and after the 1-year rotation cycle, the preferential interest rate of 0.1 percentage points is applied based on the time deposit interest rate at that time. The maturity is 3 years and can be automatically extended in 1-year increments.

The minimum subscription amount is 100,000 KRW. It is available at branches, online, and through smart banking.

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