Hae-sal-loan 15, 40.5 Billion KRW Supplied Within One Week of Launch

Financial Services Commission, 2nd Meeting of the Task Force on Maximum Interest Rate Reduction
"No Loan Cliff Effect for Low-Credit Borrowers"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jin-ho] It has been revealed that policy-based financial products for low-income consumers, such as Saessal Loan, are receiving great responses from consumers. Previously, financial authorities launched Safety Net Loan II on the 7th, the date when the maximum interest rate was lowered, and restructured the existing Saessal Loan 17 into Saessal Loan 15.

According to the Financial Services Commission on the 18th, the 'Maximum Interest Rate Reduction Implementation and Repayment Task Force' held its second meeting on the 16th and announced this.

According to the financial authorities, Saessal Loan 15 has received a strong response after the interest rate reduction restructuring (from 17.9% to 15.9%), with 40.5 billion KRW (6,159 cases) supplied within a week of its launch.

Safety Net Loan II, a refinancing product for high-interest loans (over 20%), has also been supplied 208 cases worth 1.83 billion KRW, mainly to low-credit and low-income borrowers since its launch.

A Financial Services Commission official explained, "Both products are proceeding smoothly through consultation, screening, and loan approval procedures," and added, "It is expected to serve as a reliable safety net even if borrowers face difficulties obtaining loans in the private loan market in the future."

The task force also shared monitoring results on market trends after the maximum interest rate reduction. The task force has established a daily inspection system for three sectors: savings banks, specialized credit finance companies, and loan businesses, closely monitoring trends in credit loans for low-credit borrowers.

According to the task force, the feared 'loan cliff' phenomenon for low-credit borrowers has not appeared since the maximum interest rate reduction on the 7th. All three sectors continue to handle credit loans for low-credit borrowers as before the interest rate reduction. The average daily loan amount last week for the three sectors was 39.3 billion KRW, which is actually an increase compared to the week before the interest rate reduction (July 1?6, 37.9 billion KRW).

It was also reported that no side effects such as a surge in illegal private loan damage reports have appeared yet. The government has formed an inter-agency task force to respond to illegal private loans in line with the maximum interest rate reduction. However, through focused inspections, the detection of illegal loan advertisements has increased, and swift measures are being taken to prevent these from leading to actual damages.

Kim Tae-hyun, Secretary General of the Financial Services Commission, said, "Since it is still the early stage of implementing the maximum interest rate reduction, we will closely monitor trends until stability is firmly established," and urged, "Each sector should take social responsibility to ensure smooth and continuous credit supply to low-credit and low-income groups."

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