Saemaul Credit Union Boosts Support for Small Business Owners, Enters Inclusive Finance Competition

Financial institutions, including banks, are fully entering the 'inclusive finance' competition, aiming to help small business owners and financially vulnerable groups achieve economic independence, going beyond simple funding.

Saemaul Credit Union provided 93.4 billion won in policy-backed loans in the first quarter of this year, with the scale of policy-backed loans projected to increase from 295.8 billion won in 2023 to 405.2 billion won in 2025.

Shinhan Bank is participating in a pilot operation of a specialized credit scoring model for small business owners, aligning with the Financial Services Commission's direction for 'Credit Evaluation System Reform'. Moving beyond evaluations centered on existing financial transaction history, the model will incorporate non-financial information such as sales and industry type to support small business owners with high growth potential.

Hana Bank, in partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, is providing the 'Seoul Small Business Owner Safe Account No. 3 Loan' with a total scale of 200 billion won. Individual business owners with operations located in Seoul can receive up to 10 million won through this account loan.

Kakao Bank participated in the '2026 Small Business Owner Support Expo'. Kakao Bank is the only bank that has participated in all three phases of the Safe Account project (No. 1, 2, and 3), handling 260 billion won, or 65% of the total supply amount, in phases 1 and 2.

KB Insurance operated the 'Mobile Financial Safety Support Program' for financially vulnerable groups in March. The program provided education on preventing financial fraud and methods for claiming insurance benefits to elderly individuals and those living alone in the Jeonju region.