Fintech corporation Pinda announced on the 6th that the cumulative loan agreement amount from its individual business customers surpassed 1 trillion won last year. This achievement comes three years after Pinda first began brokering business loans in 2021.
In particular, since the beginning of 2024, individual business owners have rapidly flocked to Pinda, leading to a 101% increase in the number of business loan applications compared to 2023. Looking specifically at the second half of last year, the increase compared to the same period the previous year was a staggering 248%. Last year, individual business owners accounted for 15.1% of Pinda's total loan applications, reflecting an approximately 48% increase compared to the previous year. This contrasts with the slight decrease in the percentage of employees from 66.7% to 66.2% during the same period.
Analysts suggest that the increase in visits from small business owners and self-employed individuals to Pinda can be attributed to the significant rise in tailored products and services with good conditions for them. The number of business loan products brokered by Pinda increased to 15 last year, nearly doubling from the previous year’s 8. Additionally, with the entry of loan-to-earn business loan products, Pinda established a lineup of individual business products encompassing banks, cards, capital, savings banks, and loan-to-earn businesses. The average contract interest rate for business loan products last year recorded a decline to 5.80%, down 3.18 percentage points from the previous year’s 8.98%, thus reducing the interest burden for borrowers.
Lee Hye-min, co-CEO of Pinda, noted, “It seems that our efforts to provide good-condition products have borne fruit, as many small business owners and self-employed individuals were not left out amid the tightening loan regulations and shrinking supply environment last year.” She added, “Pinda will continue to enhance tailored products considering the income generation and cash flow characteristics of business owners, aiming to become a consistently loved service for more small business owners and self-employed individuals.”