Financial Services Commission Considers Expanding Fintech Support for Policy Financial Institutions

On the morning of the 18th, Kwon Dae-young, Standing Commissioner of the Financial Services Commission, held an on-site meeting for fintech startups at Park Byung-won Hall, Mapo Front One, Yeouido, Seoul. Together with related organizations and financial and investment companies, they reviewed the financial environment of the fintech industry and listened to suggestions regarding funding areas such as investment and loans.

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Hwajeong] The Financial Services Commission (FSC) is considering expanding support measures for fintech in policy finance institutions.

On the 18th, the FSC held an on-site meeting with fintech startups, chaired by Kwon Daeyoung, Standing Commissioner of the FSC, to review the financial environment of the fintech industry together with related organizations and financial and investment companies, and to listen to "requests regarding funding areas such as investment and loans," the FSC announced.

In his opening remarks, Commissioner Kwon said, "Due to rising interest rates and weakened investment sentiment, innovative companies such as fintech firms worldwide are facing difficulties in raising funds," adding, "Considering the global economic and financial environment, these difficulties are likely to persist, so it is a crucial time to examine the challenges faced on the ground and make policy efforts to resolve them to maintain and develop the fintech ecosystem that has led innovation in the financial industry."

At this on-site meeting, the current financial environment and improvement tasks faced by fintech startups were examined from various angles.

Financial and investment companies shared the view that although a conservative investment trend has recently spread and investment in the fintech sector has generally contracted, it is necessary to continue investing from a long-term perspective. They requested the government's role as a catalyst for investment continuity in fintech companies and support for merger and acquisition (M&A) funding.

Based on their experiences in attracting investment and loan processes, fintech startups proposed various measures to revitalize funding. In particular, they pointed out that as the economic and financial environment has deteriorated recently, investment reviews have focused more on current value such as sales scale rather than the future value of companies, making funding even more difficult, and requested strengthened government support such as policy finance.

Policy finance institutions (Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Credit Guarantee Fund, Korea Development Bank), which have supported loans, guarantees, and investments for fintech companies by operating fintech-exclusive products, decided to consider expanding support measures for the fintech sector, such as establishing new fintech-exclusive products or increasing their scale and improving loan and guarantee screening, considering the difficult market situation. They also plan to prepare improvement measures for the 'Fintech Innovation Fund,' which is currently operated with a scale of 500 billion KRW, to further strengthen the virtuous cycle of the fintech industry ecosystem.

According to the FSC, policy finance institutions have supported about 570 billion KRW in loans and guarantees through operating fintech-exclusive products since 2019. They have also supported investments such as fund contributions in the fintech sector (230 billion KRW + α since 2019) and direct investments (100 billion KRW + α).

An FSC official said, "The issues raised at the meeting will be actively reflected in policy directions so that fintech startups can endure difficult times and prepare for the future."

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