The Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said on the 30th that, based on the end of June, a survey of 8,203 registered private lenders found the number of private lending users in January–June this year was 717,000, up 9,000 (1.3%) from the end of last year.
As of the end of June, the outstanding loan balance was 12.4553 trillion won, up 120.5 billion won (1%) from the end of last year. The Financial Supervisory Service analyzed that the reason was an increase in unsecured loans by large private lenders as funding rates fell. However, the outstanding loan balance per person was found at 17.37 million won, down 50,000 won over the same period. Of the outstanding loan balance, unsecured loans were 5.0861 trillion won (40.8%) and collateral-backed loans were 7.3692 trillion won (59.2%).
As of the end of June, the balance of purchased receivables held by debt-purchasing collection firms was 19.9698 trillion won (63.1936 trillion won on a face-value basis), up 3.7869 trillion won (23.4%) from the end of last year (16.1829 trillion won). In the first half, the number of private lending brokerage transactions was 96,000, up 7,000 from the second half of last year.
As of the end of June, the average lending rate was 13.9%, the personal unsecured lending rate was 18.1%, and the arrears rate was 12.1%, holding at the same level as the end of last year.
As of the end of June, registered private lenders numbered 8,203, up 21 from the end of last year. The number of lending businesses increased by 51 and debt-purchase collection businesses by 21, while lending brokerages decreased by 14 and combined lending and brokerage businesses decreased by 16.
The Financial Supervisory Service plans to monitor the supply of credit to lower-credit segments in the private lending sector, including the status of new loan originations, and seek ways to ensure stable funding for vulnerable groups by enhancing the effectiveness of the system recognizing outstanding private lenders in inclusive finance.