FSC Vice Chairman: "3.24 Million Credit Recoveries Are Part of 'Balanced Growth Where Everyone Prospers'"

Joint Agreement Ceremony for Supporting Credit Recovery of Low-Income Individuals and Small Business Owners
"The Largest Initiative Ever... Financial Sector Commits to Mutual Prosperity with the People"

The financial sector has pledged swift action in response to the Lee Jaemyung administration's announcement of a "credit amnesty," promising to restrict the sharing and use of delinquency history information. Kwon Daeyoung, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, called for rapid preparations such as IT system development and stated that the government would continue to pursue its national goal of "balanced growth where everyone prospers."

On the morning of August 20, Vice Chairman Kwon attended the "Joint Financial Industry Business Agreement Ceremony for Supporting Credit Recovery of Low-Income Individuals and Small Business Owners," held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. The event was attended by a total of 29 participants, including Vice Chairman Kwon, Lee Jongo, Deputy Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, Cho Yongbyung, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, Kang Hodong, Chairman of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, and representatives from credit information companies such as NICE Information Service.

This agreement ceremony was organized by the financial sector as part of the "credit amnesty" initiative, which supports credit recovery for those who, despite having inevitably fallen behind on debt repayments due to the COVID-19 pandemic and high interest rates, have repaid their debts in full in good faith.

On August 11, the Financial Services Commission announced that it would delete delinquency history information for individuals and sole proprietors who had experienced delinquencies of 50 million won or less between January 2020 and August this year, provided they repay the full amount by the end of this year. The commission explained that up to 3.24 million people are expected to benefit from the deletion of delinquency records, marking the largest scale since the government began supporting credit recovery for small delinquent borrowers.

Through the agreement, a "working group" will be formed, centered on the Korea Credit Information Services, with participation from each association and credit information company. The goal is to implement credit recovery support measures by September 30. The Financial Supervisory Service will issue a no-action letter to eliminate regulatory uncertainty regarding the non-use of delinquency history information by financial institutions. The financial sector plans to enable individuals to directly check their eligibility for credit recovery support through platforms such as NICE Jikimi and KCB All Credit on the implementation date.

Vice Chairman Kwon described this support as a type of safety measure that helps people quickly return to normal life from unforeseen risks that can happen to anyone, stating, "The return of individuals excluded from normal economic activities is also desirable from a national economic perspective." He further noted that the 3.24 million beneficiaries represent "a symbolic number that demonstrates the financial sector's strong commitment to walking the path of mutual prosperity with the people."

He also emphasized that the government is pursuing various policies to restore the livelihoods of low-income individuals and small business owners, declaring, "We will achieve the national goal of balanced growth where everyone prospers."

Cho Yongbyung, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, stated that banks would actively support those making sincere efforts to recover, helping them break the vicious cycle of delinquency and return to normal financial transactions and economic life. Na Seongrin, Chairman of the Korea Credit Information Association, commented that it is very desirable for the government to devise timely and diverse measures for vulnerable groups since the launch of the new administration, and that the credit information industry will also prepare to implement these measures in line with their purpose.

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