[Real-Life Finance] "I'll Pay My Studio Deposit with Part-Time Job Earnings"... Unique Products from Ontu Industry

P2P Lending Industry Launches Unique Products Tailored to Borrowers
Some Lend Money Based on College Grades and Internships

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Sim Nayoung] "I decided to return to school starting the second semester, but due to my family's financial situation, I am taking out a loan to pay the deposit for my off-campus housing. I plan to gradually repay it through part-time jobs, and I have already secured a convenience store part-time job. I will also study hard."

This is a post by a university student requesting a loan from the online investment-linked finance company (P2P) ‘CampusFund’. This student attends the College of Engineering at a vocational university in a provincial area and applied for a loan of 2 million KRW. CampusFund’s role is to gather investors for ‘thin filers’?university students who have no prior history with traditional financial institutions and thus find it difficult to get loans from banks. It provides investors with a comprehensive view of the applicant’s GPA, internship experience, certifications, and financial institution loan history to assist their decision-making. As of the 20th, CampusFund’s expected annual return rate is 13.78%, with a cumulative investment amount of 16.5 billion KRW and a total of 343,127 investment transactions.

Online investment-linked finance companies are increasing, offering unique products tailored to borrowers’ characteristics beyond just apartment or credit loans. Choosing an online finance company that fits one’s profile well can enable loans at much lower interest rates than those of secondary financial institutions.

A representative example is ‘NICEabc’, a financial support platform for small and medium enterprises. Since November last year, this company has started a ‘logistics accounts receivable securitization business’ that allows transportation operators such as truck owners to convert their transportation payments into cash early. The starting point was recognizing the problem that although the volume of freight transportation increased due to COVID-19, the payment terms from consignors had not improved, despite the increased workload for individual transport operators. NICEabc securitized transportation accounts receivable and introduced an advance payment service that settles payments the day after transportation is completed, providing up to 45 days of early payment. In about four months since the service launch, it securitized accounts receivable exceeding 11 billion KRW.

There are also investment products targeting ‘online product sellers’ operating on platforms like Naver and Coupang. Winkstone Partners selects online product sellers who are likely to increase future sales through investments such as inventory buildup or expanded advertising and provides loans to them. They also launched a ‘medium-interest loan for small business owners and SMEs’ product. Recently, the ‘IT Subscription Service No. 1’ product was introduced to help SMEs that rent IT devices such as laptops, monitors, and tablets secure funding more smoothly. With funds invested by online finance company investors, these companies can purchase additional rental equipment and utilize it.

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