Saemaeul Geumgo Maintaining Branches Even in Population Declining Areas

Operating 461 Stores in 89 Population Decline Areas Including Gyeongnam Namhae and Jeonbuk Namwon

The National Credit Union Federation of Korea (NCUFK) is practicing inclusive finance by maintaining branches and providing face-to-face financial services even in regions nationwide experiencing population decline, targeting the elderly and small business owners who are vulnerable to digital technology. Inclusive finance means helping all people, including vulnerable groups such as low-income individuals, the elderly, and those with low credit, to easily access financial services.

According to NCUFK on the 31st, Saemaeul Geumgo operates 461 branches, accounting for 14.1% of the total 3,269 branches, in 89 basic local governments designated as population decline areas by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. Representative areas with steep population decline include Yeongcheon in Gyeongbuk (19 branches), Namwon in Jeonbuk (14 branches), Namhae in Gyeongnam (10 branches), and Yeongam in Jeonnam (10 branches). Branches operate in 87 population decline areas except Ongjin in Incheon and Jeongseon in Gangwon. In contrast, the four major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori) do not operate branches in about half of the 89 population decline areas.

Saemaeul Geumgo actually has a lower proportion of branches in the metropolitan area compared to other banks. Looking at the branch distribution, the metropolitan area including Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon accounts for 34.2% (1,117 branches). This contrasts with the four major banks, which have reduced about 20% of their total branches over the past five years to cut fixed costs due to the activation of mobile banking. About 70% of the four major banks’ branches are concentrated in the metropolitan area.

The National Credit Union Federation of Korea practices inclusive finance by maintaining branches and providing face-to-face financial services even in regions nationwide experiencing population decline, targeting elderly people vulnerable to digital technology and small business owners.

While promoting mergers between credit unions for management rationalization, Saemaeul Geumgo has maintained its branches. From the second half of last year to the first half of this year, the number of credit unions decreased by a total of 9 (from 1,293 to 1,284), but the number of branches actually increased from 3,260 to 3,269. According to the federation, this is the result of pursuing mergers in a way that enhances operational efficiency without reducing the total number of branches to support the elderly who are not familiar with digital finance. In fact, the main customer base of Saemaeul Geumgo is women in their 50s to 70s living outside the metropolitan area. Among the total 23,566,486 customers, those aged 50 and above account for 57.8%.

Operating branches has also helped prevent telecommunication financial fraud (voice phishing) targeting the elderly in rural areas. Recently, at Mujin Saemaeul Geumgo in Nam-gu, Gwangju, a credit union employee reported to the police and saved a man in his 70s from losing 30 million won to voice phishing. From 2021 to the end of last year, Saemaeul Geumgo customers were able to avoid a total of 313 voice phishing crimes with the help of credit union employees. The total amount of prevented damage was 9.37 billion won.

A representative of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea said, “Saemaeul Geumgo, which started from the spirit of mutual aid and cooperation, will continue to work hard to provide warm financial services close to customers so that local communities can be maintained and local economies can prosper.”

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