"Everyone's Doing It"... Credit Loans Reignite Amid the Debt Investment (Bittou) Craze

5 Major Banks' Credit Loans Jump to 1.72 Trillion Won by the 13th

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Due to the aftermath of the 'Debt Investment (borrowing to invest in stocks)' craze, bank credit loans seem to be heating up again this month.

According to the banking sector on the 16th, as of the 13th, the outstanding balance of credit loans at the five major commercial banks?KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, and NH Nonghyup?was recorded at 135.3695 trillion won.

This is an increase of 1.7213 trillion won compared to the end of last December (133.6482 trillion won). Simply calculated, this means an increase of about 130 billion won per day.

With the financial authorities tightening regulations, banks implemented strong measures such as suspending new loan products, causing the growth trend, which had sharply declined at the end of last year, to rapidly surge as soon as the new year began.

It was identified that a total of 18,660 new overdraft accounts were opened at these banks from the 1st to the 13th of this month. Typically, at the beginning of January, year-end bonuses are deposited into accounts, leading to an increase in deposit balances rather than loans.

A bank official said, "Compared to the same period last year, new account openings have increased by about 30%," adding, "This is an unusual level for the beginning of the year."

Demand Concentrated Among 20s and 30s Office Workers

Recently, there has also been a noticeable surge in loan demand among young office workers in their 20s and 30s. At a certain commercial bank, among the non-face-to-face credit loan borrowers for office workers handled up to the 13th of this year, about 45%?nearly half?were in their 20s and 30s. Specifically, 16% were in their 20s and 29% in their 30s.

A bank official explained, "It seems clear that the proportion of borrowers in their 20s and 30s has significantly increased since the new year," adding, "In particular, the share of borrowers in their 20s has noticeably risen."

In the case of Bank B, it was estimated that more than half of the non-face-to-face credit loans during the same period were taken out by people in their 20s and 30s.

The trend of young people becoming the 'major players' in the loan market is also reflected in the age distribution of borrowers in the overall household loan market.

According to the Bank of Korea, as of the end of the third quarter last year, household loans for young people in their 20s and 30s increased by 8.5% compared to the same period the previous year, which was a higher growth rate than other age groups (6.5%).

A banking sector official diagnosed, "With the high-intensity loan regulations in the banking sector somewhat eased until last year, combined with anxiety over when they might be tightened again and the stock market stimulating investment sentiment, these factors are encouraging loans."

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