BNK Savings Bank launches the "Peer-to-Peer Finance" project aimed at small entrepreneurs and vulnerable groups in society

BNK Savings Bank officially implemented a comprehensive financial project on the 20th aimed at simultaneously supporting regional small businesses and vulnerable groups in finance. Its goal is to bundle loans, savings, and interest rate reductions to open financing channels for those in need of funds and provide relatively high interest rates for groups that need to save.

The core of the newly launched “Peer Financial” package is close-to-region support. First, it offers “BNK Peer Loans” to individual entrepreneurs in Busan who have been engaged in the same industry for over six months and are facing financing difficulties. The support limit is up to 10 million won, with a minimum interest rate of about 6% per year. Typically, loan interest rates in savings banks are higher than those in commercial banks; considering the urgent need for operational funds among individual entrepreneurs, the threshold has been adjusted to a relatively low level.

A savings product has also been prepared separately. Targeted at basic livelihood security recipients, lower-middle classes, the disabled, single-parent families, multicultural families, and others in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam-do, the “BNK Peer Savings” offers a 12-month term, with monthly deposits ranging from 10k to 300k won, and an interest rate of about 6.0% annually. This means that, amid the recent overall decline in deposit interest rates, it will provide relatively high interest rates to financially vulnerable groups to help them accumulate assets.

The project also includes measures to alleviate the interest burden for existing loan users. BNK Savings Bank will also operate a “Peer Interest Rate Program,” offering up to 0.5 percentage points interest reduction for customers with high-interest loans held for over a year. This not only involves providing new loans but also aims to reduce the repayment burden for customers already burdened with high interest. This aligns with the policy requirement for savings banks to strengthen their role in serving ordinary people.

This measure can be interpreted as an example of regional financial institutions expanding their role amid economic slowdown and sustained high interest rates, which increase the financial burden on individual entrepreneurs and low-income groups. Especially in regions like Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam-do, where manufacturing and individual businesses constitute a large proportion, even small-scale financial support and interest reductions may have a significant impact. This trend indicates that in the future, local financial institutions may go beyond merely providing loans and move toward customized financial services that combine regional economic defense and support for vulnerable groups.