Gwangju Bank Inclusive Finance Center, Excellence Award for Financial Supervisory Service Management Consulting Support

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Bank (President Song Jong-wook) announced on the 11th that it received the Excellence Award in the Inclusive Finance Management Consulting Support category from the Financial Supervisory Service (Commissioner Yoon Seok-heon).

The Financial Supervisory Service holds an annual management consulting best practice presentation to enhance the participation and interest of the financial sector in inclusive finance, which provides financial support to low-income individuals, self-employed persons, and small and medium-sized enterprises, and awards financial institutions and outstanding workers.

In this inclusive finance award, Gwangju Bank was recognized for its contributions to expanding and promoting the management consulting system by providing financial support, financial adjustment counseling, and management consulting to low-income individuals and self-employed persons in the region, as well as signing business agreements with local governments and industry-specific organizations.

Established as a one-stop comprehensive consultation center for local low-income finance, the Gwangju Bank Inclusive Finance Center took its first step in November 2019 at the original head office used at the time of the bank’s founding in 1968, with the ambition to become a hopeful partner for small business owners and low-income residents in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions, in line with President Song Jong-wook’s management philosophy of pursuing values beyond profit.

To date, it has provided 15 billion KRW in funds to over 650 small business owners and financially vulnerable groups through special inclusive finance loans. In cooperation with the Financial Supervisory Service, it has also led COVID-19 crisis management support by offering free management consulting services such as marketing, taxation, and commercial area analysis to 320 small business owners struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The Gwangju Bank Inclusive Finance Center is committed to sincere financial counseling and marketing with the goal of ensuring that no small business owner in the region is left behind and providing practical assistance to induce a virtuous cycle in the local economy.

From tailored financial support to education and management consulting that help improve financial difficulties, the center proposes accurate assessments of customers’ economic situations and financial solutions. High customer satisfaction has spread by word of mouth throughout the region, deeply embedding itself in the financial lives of local small business owners and low-income residents.

Looking at the financial transaction trends of customers who used the Inclusive Finance Center over the past year, 44% experienced an improvement in their credit ratings.

Through the CMS (Credit Management Service), which aims to embrace customers who previously used high-interest loans from secondary financial institutions and loan companies into the primary financial sector, continuous analysis of credit rating changes showed that among approximately 500 analyzed customers, 218 improved their credit ratings up to grade 4, the highest level previously achieved.

The Inclusive Finance Center did not lose the footsteps of small business owners who could not cross the threshold of formal financial institutions and were about to turn to savings banks and loan companies. As a result, many customers have been able to secure operating funds through the Inclusive Finance Center by improving their credit ratings and enabling transactions with primary financial institutions.

President Song Jong-wook of Gwangju Bank said, “I feel great fulfillment that the inclusive finance we shared to support local small business owners and self-employed persons struggling due to the spread of COVID-19 has become a source of hope and strength to overcome the crisis for many people. We will continue to practice inclusive finance with sincere financial prescriptions and take the lead in community-based management for mutual growth with the region, doing our best as the representative bank of Gwangju and Jeonnam to revitalize the local economy.”

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