Youth Future Savings Scheme Improved... Median Income Criteria Eased for Married Young Couples

Up to 3% Additional Preferential Interest on Top of 5% Base Rate

Maximum Payout of 22.55 Million Won Including Government Contributions and Tax Exemption

Partial Recognition of Preferential Rates When Switching from Youth Leap Account

Credit Score Boost Planned for Maintaining the Account for Over Two Years

The financial authorities are easing the income requirements for married young couples to lower the entry barriers for the Youth Future Savings product. In addition, to minimize disadvantages for subscribers switching from the Youth Leap Account, some preferential interest rates will now be recognized even in cases of special mid-term termination.

Lee Eogwon, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, is delivering an opening speech at the '5th Productive Finance Big Transformation Meeting' held at the Bankers' Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 16th. 2026.4.16 Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

On May 14, the Financial Services Commission held the "Youth Future Savings Unboxing Talk Concert" at the Seoul Small Business Market Promotion Corporation’s dedicated training center, where the product structure, interest rate levels, and institutional improvement measures were released. The event was attended by Lee Eokwon, Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, representatives from the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency, commercial banks, financial planning experts, and young participants.

In his opening remarks, Chairman Lee Eokwon stated, "The most important thing is to give young people the power to start for the first time and the hope that they can design their future," and explained, "We are launching the Youth Future Savings product so that the state and the financial sector can help young people build their first assets together."

The Youth Future Savings is a three-year fixed-rate product, offering a base interest rate of 5%, with each bank providing an additional preferential rate of 2 to 3 percentage points, resulting in a maximum annual interest rate of approximately 7 to 8%.

As a common preferential rate, young people with an annual income of 36 million won or less will receive an extra 0.5 percentage points, and those who complete the "Financial Counseling for All Youth" program will receive an additional 0.2 percentage points. Other preferential rates will be applied differently depending on each financial institution’s transaction performance and usage conditions. The financial authorities plan to announce the detailed preferential rate categories and levels set by each institution at the end of this month.

The government explained that the actual return rate would be significantly higher when considering tax exemption on interest income and government contributions. For example, for a preferential-type subscriber at an 8% interest rate, adding the principal of 18 million won, a government contribution of 2.16 million won, and interest of 2.39 million won, the maximum payout can reach 22.55 million won. This provides benefits similar to a simple interest savings product with an annual rate of 19.4%.

The number of financial institutions handling the product has been expanded to 15, adding Suhyup Bank, KakaoBank, Toss Bank, and Korea Post to the existing Youth Leap Account providers such as KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, Woori Bank, Nonghyup Bank, and Industrial Bank of Korea.

The Financial Services Commission is also pursuing institutional improvements reflecting feedback from the youth. To prevent cases where married couples exceed the household income threshold and are thus restricted from signing up, the median income criteria for two-person households will be relaxed. For the general type, the standard will be raised from the current 200% to 250%, and for the preferential type, from 150% to 200%.

Support measures are also being prepared for subscribers switching from the Youth Leap Account. Previously, only the base interest rate was applied in cases of special mid-term termination. Moving forward, to reduce disadvantages for those switching from the Youth Leap Account to the Youth Future Savings, the scope of recognized preferential interest rates will be expanded.

Accordingly, the financial authorities are in discussions with related institutions to ensure that preferential interest rates are applied during special mid-term termination, even for requirements that have already been met or partially met.

Additionally, a plan is being promoted to award a 5 to 10-point increase in credit scores to subscribers who maintain the Youth Future Savings for more than two years and have accumulated contributions of at least 8 million won. The duration and contributions made to the Youth Leap Account will also be recognized in the total.

During the talk concert, counseling was provided on asset management concerns for young people. Experts advised newcomers to the workforce to develop the habit of "saving first, spending later" and to utilize the Youth Future Savings, while recommending a diversified investment strategy for those switching from the Youth Leap Account. Starting in the second half of this year, the Financial Services Commission plans to offer one-on-one customized financial counseling programs for young people. In addition, the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency will prepare guidelines on utilizing youth policy finance.

Chairman Lee concluded, "I hope that the Youth Future Savings will serve as a solid starting point for young people to prepare for their future," adding, "We will continue to actively reflect the voices of young people in policy and consistently develop highly tangible youth finance policies."

The Financial Services Commission and related agencies also stated that they will make thorough preparations to ensure the Youth Future Savings can be launched without issues in June.

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