Daegu Bank Provides 1.6 Trillion Won Financial Support to Low-Income Groups and Small Business Owners

Announcement at Meeting with Lee Bok-hyun, Financial Supervisory Service Chief

‘Haetsallon Bank’ Interest Rate Reduced by 0.5%

DGB Daegu Bank announced on the 3rd a comprehensive support plan for low-income finance worth 1.6 trillion KRW to fulfill its responsibility as a leading regional bank by practicing ‘warm finance’ targeting vulnerable individual borrowers and local small business owners and SMEs facing management difficulties.

The support plan was announced during the ‘DGB Daegu Bank Meeting for Expanding Win-Win Finance’ held at the Suseong-dong headquarters in Daegu in the morning, attended by Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, and other officials.

The meeting began with a major announcement to significantly expand the support scale of ‘Hae-sal-lon Bank,’ a representative low-income financial product, followed by the announcement of the comprehensive low-income finance support plan. The session also included participation by Lee Bok-hyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, and Hwang Byung-woo, President of the bank, in ‘DGB Live Commerce,’ a free service provided by DGB Daegu Bank to help local small business owners develop sales channels.

The comprehensive low-income finance support, announced with the goal of ‘serving as a strong pillar for the local economy,’ will be implemented through 990 billion KRW in support for individual borrowers, 647 billion KRW in financial support for small business owners and SMEs, expanded management consulting, and non-financial support through improved financial accessibility.

Daegu Bank Headquarters

First, the support scale of ‘Hae-sal-lon Bank,’ DGB Daegu Bank’s representative low-income financial support product, will be significantly expanded from 16.7 billion KRW last year to 300 billion KRW this year, with a new interest rate reduction of 0.5 percentage points. Notably, convenience of use has been greatly improved through a non-face-to-face channel via a mobile app, and the review process has been automated to enable rapid financial support, strengthening support so that low-credit and low-income individuals can safely settle in the banking sector.

‘New Hope Loan’ aims to provide 100 billion KRW in financial support this year, following a 0.5 percentage point interest reduction last year, with an additional 0.5 percentage point reduction in the new interest rate this year. As the first regional bank to do so, it offers full exemption of early repayment fees on household loans for low-credit individual borrowers with credit ratings of 7 or below, and up to a 1.0% reduction on new household credit loans, among other financial support measures for individual borrowers.

This individual borrower support will be implemented on a total scale of 990 billion KRW, with an expected financial cost reduction of about 8 billion KRW, providing substantial financial support benefits to vulnerable borrowers and various financial consumers.

Support for small business owners and SMEs totaling 647 billion KRW to promote regional co-growth and economic revitalization is expected to reduce costs by approximately 2.46 billion KRW. Through a special contribution to the Regional Credit Guarantee Foundation, 240 billion KRW in financial support will help resolve liquidity issues for local small business owners and SMEs, and the launch of a 300 billion KRW low-interest facility loan conversion product is expected to reduce financial costs by about 3 billion KRW.

Additionally, for borrowers with matured loans using the ‘Special Loan for Small Business Owners,’ a low interest rate in the 4.5% range will be supported when converting to installment repayment. The win-win fund in cooperation with local governments and public institutions will be operated at 92 billion KRW, an increase of 20 billion KRW from the previous year, to enable local small business owners and SMEs to use financial products at low interest rates.

Furthermore, various support programs for regional economic revitalization will be implemented, such as the DGB Hope Sharing Debt Reduction Program, which reduces up to 90% of long-term unpaid debts to help financially marginalized groups recover.

Non-financial support will also be simultaneously provided to contribute to multifaceted economic revitalization. Various consulting support projects will continue to stabilize management and support growth for small business owners and SMEs, while diverse financial services will be offered through extended business hours (09:00?18:00), expanded mobile branches, and senior-specialized branches.

Hwang Byung-woo, President of Daegu Bank, said, “We hope that the comprehensive support plan for expanding win-win finance, established to overcome the economic crisis, will deliver substantial benefits evenly throughout the local community,” adding, “We will strive to practice warm finance that carefully embraces financially marginalized groups and become a leading regional bank that drives co-growth in the local community.”

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