Just days after launch... Small business owners call the error-ridden Hope Loan a "Hope Torture"

A message appears on a major bank's app stating that the issuance of documents required for using Hope Loan Plus has failed. Photo by Reader Provided

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] It has been identified that self-employed individuals are suffering from repeated surges in applicants and various errors during the subscription process of policy financial products launched at the beginning of the year. For small business owners who are tight on funds, the high entry barriers to using policy financial products have led to criticism that their effectiveness is diminished.

According to the industry on the 31st, in a community used by about one million small business owners, approximately 1,200 posts related to the ‘Hope Loan Plus’ were made within three days of its launch. Most of these posts reported server outages or application errors that prevented the review process from proceeding. There were also requests for information on banks whose applications were functioning properly or accessible. Even several days after the launch, posts complaining about Hope Plus loan issues were being made roughly every 3 to 4 minutes on that day.

Hope Loan Plus is a policy financial product that allows borrowing 10 million KRW at an interest rate of 1.0 to 1.5% for five years. It targets small business owners affected by social distancing measures due to COVID-19. It is also available to those who have received other policy funds such as the 1st and 2nd financial support programs for small business owners, and applicants must apply separately according to high, medium, or low credit ratings. The total support scale is 10 trillion KRW.

Even with Emphasis on Digital... Financial Apps Freeze at Critical Moments

However, small business owners say that using Hope Loan Plus is difficult. One self-employed individual who experienced errors during the Hope Loan Plus application process said, “While some people receive approval and transfer confirmation messages on the same day, others have to wait endlessly even after approval,” adding, “I am still waiting for the contract, but I was told there was an error in sending the contract message, so I have not received it,” expressing frustration.

Another self-employed person lamented, “It’s the fourth day since the launch, but it feels more like a Hope Torture Loan than a Hope Loan,” and added, “I have been unable to even issue documents due to automated issuance errors, and my fingers have been hurting for two hours.” Some small business owners were also seen installing major bank apps and inquiring about servers that were functioning smoothly or moving between them.

Voices expressing dissatisfaction with Hope Loan Plus also appeared in petitions to the Blue House. A petitioner pointed out, “I applied for the small business owner Hope Loan when I was struggling to repay debts,” and said, “I have a mountain of money to pay back, and if this is how it is, I regret not going to private loans.” They also questioned, “Many small business owners need lump sums before Lunar New Year, so what use is it if the funds come after everything is over?”

There were also criticisms that no matter how much financial companies revamp their apps, they freeze at critical moments. Although digital capabilities are emphasized, the phenomenon of servers crashing whenever there is a surge of users is repeatedly criticized. Last year, the ‘Card Point Integration Service’ crashed within three hours, and when applications for COVID-19 small business loans surged, major financial apps experienced connection errors.

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