Non-face-to-face Service Expansion Makes It Easier for Small Business Owners

Sojinkong Supports Most Services Online Including Policy Fund Applications, Certificate Issuance, and Verification

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jonghwa] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS) are actively implementing digital and non-face-to-face services for small business owners, significantly enhancing their convenience.

Currently, the non-face-to-face services provided by SEMAS include 'policy fund support,' 'issuance of small business owner certificates for tax credit purposes,' and 'chatbot consultation.' These services have been transitioned online in line with the post-COVID-19 era, increasing the effectiveness of support services for small business owners as end users.

First, from application to disbursement of policy funds, everything can be handled on the online policy fund website, reducing the burden on small business owners who previously had to suspend their work for 1-2 days and visit the Small Business Support Center in person to apply for funds.

Since February, SEMAS has been supporting various certificate issuances and small business owner certificate issuance, as well as advance reservation services through the online policy fund service. So far, there have been 30,972 certificate issuances, 19,806 proxy loan confirmation issuances, and 38,961 advance visit reservations for direct loans, showing a steady increase in online issuance and reservation applications.

These services are available on the 'Small Business Policy Fund Website.' Certificate issuance services are available at all times, while proxy loan confirmation and advance visit reservations for direct loans can be used during designated application periods.

SEMAS also established a blockchain-based policy fund support platform in collaboration with Shinhan Bank, the first public institution to do so, and has been operating it since last October. By cross-verifying real-time loan information through blockchain, it is expected to shorten the review period and proactively respond to safe and prompt civil complaint processing.

Since August, small business owner certificates for tax credit purposes have also been issued online. This was made possible after the Restriction of Special Taxation Act was amended in April to provide tax credit benefits to participants in the 'Good Landlord' and 'Prepayment Campaign,' allowing them to conveniently obtain one of the required submission documents, the small business owner certificate for tax credit purposes.

Previously, applicants had to visit one of the 66 Small Business Support Centers nationwide to obtain the certificate, but now the system has been established to allow application and issuance (printing) online. Since the launch of the online issuance service in August, online issuance accounts for 81% (5,870 cases) of the total issuance as of the end of November.

Since the end of last month, SEMAS has also been operating a 'chatbot service' that provides real-time answers to inquiries about small business policy funds and support project information that small business owners are curious about.

The chatbot service, 'Sodambot,' reduces the inconvenience of small business owners having to individually search for desired information by accessing support agency websites, greatly improving both usability and accessibility to information. It is especially accessible via mobile, allowing information to be provided to users anytime and anywhere.

Sodambot can be accessed through three channels. Users can click the 'Chatbot' button on the desktop after visiting the 'SEMAS homepage' or 'Small Business Plaza,' or conveniently use it on mobile by searching for 'Small Business Consultation Chatbot' or 'Sodambot' on KakaoTalk and adding the channel.

Jo Bonghwan, Director of SEMAS, said, "Intelligent non-face-to-face services will help small business owners receive policy support without time and space constraints," adding, "We will strive to expand non-face-to-face processes to more support projects in the future so that small business owners can use support services more conveniently."

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