Shinhyup Celebrates 61st Anniversary: "Expanding 7 Major Inclusive Finance Areas, Leading Digital Innovation"

Status of Credit Union Member Dividends and Social Contribution Projects Last Year
[Photo by Credit Union Central Cooperative]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] The Credit Cooperatives presented a win-win development plan for mutual growth on the occasion of their 61st anniversary (May 1). They plan to expand the seven inclusive finance projects and accelerate digital innovation to strengthen the regional foundation.

According to the Credit Union Central Council on the 3rd, the Credit Cooperatives are currently implementing seven inclusive finance projects: ▲ 815 Liberation Loan ▲ Eobuba Hyo (孝) Deposit ▲ Multi-child Housing Stability Support Loan ▲ Regional Specialized Projects ▲ Eobuba Plan ▲ Crisis Area Support Loan ▲ Free Distribution of Eobuba Location Alert Devices.

This year, the scale of the '815 Liberation Loan,' which refinances high-interest private loans at a moderate interest rate of 8.15%, will be expanded to 164.3 billion KRW (about 19,000 cases). This is an increase of 7.2 billion KRW from last year's 157.1 billion KRW. The 'Small Business Eobuba Plan,' which supports publicity consulting and low-interest loans for small business self-sufficiency, will also be expanded.

They will also attempt to advance core digital projects, including bio-authentication. This is to build a system optimized for the digital environment through strategic business partnerships with big tech companies and organizational reform. For rural and small cooperatives, digital environment improvements will be implemented. Accordingly, the newly established Rural Small Cooperative Support Group last November will provide various digital education programs to cooperatives.

Since the business area has expanded from this year, the Credit Cooperatives announced plans to strengthen credit competitiveness and seek international cooperation through support for overseas credit cooperatives. To this end, they will diversify collateral loan evaluation services by using the Korea Appraisal Board's market prices and introducing collateral price survey services.

They also plan to discuss COVID-19 response strategies, digital transformation, and financial stability through non-face-to-face webinars with the World Council of Credit Unions and the Asian Confederation of Credit Unions.

Kim Yoon-sik, Chairman of the Credit Union Central Council, emphasized, “We feel a heavy responsibility as financial cooperatives due to the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. We will fulfill our fundamental role of leading digital innovation through organizational reform suited to the new normal era while promoting sharing and mutual growth by supporting marginalized groups.”

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