Following Commercial Banks, Internet Banks Also Suspend Services One After Another: "All Loans Will Be Blocked by Year-End"

KakaoBank to Halt High-Credit Loans and Jeonse Deposit Loans from 8th
TossBank Uses 40% of Annual Loan Limit in Just 3 Days Since Launch
K-Bank Also Cuts and Suspends Loan Limits, Impact Greater Than Commercial Banks
Real Borrowers Fear No Access to Funds Until Year-End, Raising Concerns

[Asia Economy Reporter Sung Ki-ho] Following commercial banks, internet-only banks are also shutting down their loan windows one after another. Due to the comprehensive pressure from financial authorities, not only the banking sector but also the secondary financial sector have reduced or completely suspended loan limits, leading internet banks to collectively surrender. As the loan freeze becomes a reality, concerns are growing that the damage to real borrowers who urgently need funds will increase.

According to the financial sector on the 8th, KakaoBank decided to completely suspend new applications for credit loans to high-credit borrowers and jeonse/monthly rent deposit loans, following overdraft accounts, from today until the end of this year. The suspended products are ▲high-credit credit loans ▲Sa-it-dol loans ▲jeonse/monthly rent deposit loans. Among credit loan products, medium-credit loans, medium-credit plus loans, Sunshine Loan 15, and youth jeonse/monthly rent deposit loans are still available for application. However, the number of applications allowed may vary depending on the situation.

KakaoBank, which already stopped new overdraft loans from the 1st, explained that this measure was taken as part of household loan management. A KakaoBank official stated, "Considering the loan growth rate, additional measures may be implemented."

Toss Bank, which started operations on the 5th, is also highly likely to suspend loans this week. Toss Bank, which was ordered by financial authorities not to exceed a total loan amount of 500 billion KRW by the end of the year, confirmed that more than 200 billion KRW in loans had been executed by the afternoon of the previous day.

In the market, there was speculation that loan demanders would flock to Toss Bank immediately after its launch due to the successive loan suspensions by commercial banks and KakaoBank. Especially, unlike other banks, Toss Bank's credit loan limit was attractive, allowing up to 270 million KRW and overdraft accounts up to 150 million KRW. Considering these concerns, Toss Bank accepted applications sequentially despite having over one million pre-registrations. This was to prevent the total loan volume from being exceeded if applications flooded in at once. However, just three days after its launch, it exceeded 40% of the annual limit, leading to the unprecedented situation of having to suspend loan operations.

Another internet bank, K Bank, also reduced the limits on credit loans and overdraft accounts from the 2nd. The credit loan limit was lowered from 250 million KRW to 150 million KRW, and the overdraft and medium-interest credit loans, such as Credit Loan Plus, were also reduced from 150 million KRW to 100 million KRW.

The problem is that the tightening of loan regulations in the financial sector is likely to intensify further. Financial authorities have announced plans for ultra-strong household debt measures within this month. Among the additional regulations being considered is the advancement of the timing for strengthening the Debt Service Ratio (DSR). Currently, the DSR regulation applies to mortgage loans on houses exceeding 600 million KRW in all regulated areas or credit loans exceeding 100 million KRW. If the DSR regulation is strengthened, the scope will expand to include loans exceeding 200 million KRW in total.

Accordingly, the damage to real borrowers facing the loan cliff can only increase. In particular, there are concerns that vulnerable groups who cannot obtain loans from banks or the secondary financial sector may be driven into illegal private loan markets.

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