Jeonnam Province-Gwangju Bank-Jeonnam Credit Guarantee Foundation Join Hands for Financial Bus Operation and Special Contribution

Improving Access to Financial Services and Supporting Business Stability for Traditional Markets and Small Business Owners

The convenience of financial services for small business owners in financially underserved areas of Jeonnam is expected to improve.

On the 26th, Jeonnam Province announced that it signed a "Financial Bus Operation and Special Contribution Agreement with Financial Companies" for supporting traditional markets and small business owners, together with Jeonnam Credit Guarantee Foundation (hereinafter Jeonnam Shinbo) and Gwangju Bank.

The signing ceremony was attended by Kim Young-rok, Governor of Jeonnam Province, Ko Byung-il, President of Gwangju Bank, and Lee Kang-geun, Chairman of Jeonnam Shinbo.

Through this agreement, Jeonnam Province, Gwangju Bank, and Jeonnam Shinbo plan to operate a visiting financial bus called "GaDream" to enhance the convenience of financial services for small business owners in traditional markets and financially underserved areas such as islands and mountainous regions.

The financial bus "GaDream," which underwent two pilot runs last year and is scheduled for full operation starting this year, utilizes Gwangju Bank's bus-type mobile branch to visit sites and provide integrated civil services such as loans, guarantees, small business management consulting, and financial counseling.

At the signing, Gwangju Bank also made a special contribution of 1.5 billion KRW to Jeonnam Shinbo, significantly increased from the usual 1 billion KRW, to support the business stability of small enterprises and small business owners struggling with high interest rates and prolonged economic recession.

Accordingly, Jeonnam Shinbo plans to provide preferential guarantees worth up to 70 million KRW per company, totaling 18 billion KRW, targeting small business owners in traditional markets and financially underserved areas.

Through linkage with Jeonnam Province's special interest support funds for small business owners and other government or local government interest support funds, small business owners can use these services at low interest rates ranging from 2% to 4% per annum.

Governor Kim Young-rok said, "The financial bus is a service perfectly suited for Jeonnam, which has many islands, remote areas, and a high aging population ratio," and added, "Together with the two institutions' valuable cooperation in this project, we will make further efforts to stabilize the management of small business owners."

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