Kim Eun-kyung, head of the Korea INclusive Finance Agency (KINFA) and chair of the Credit Counseling and Recovery Service, plans to meet Ham Young-joo, chair of Hana Financial Group, and Lee Chan-woo, chair of NongHyup Financial Group, to request additional grants to the Smile Microcredit Foundation. The Smile Microcredit Foundation is an organization that helps the financially marginalized become self-reliant and handles Smile Microcredit, a policy finance product overseen by KINFA that lends small amounts at low interest rates.
On the 27th, according to the financial industry, Kim recently met with Ham and discussed grants to the Smile Microcredit Foundation. Kim plans to meet Lee soon to discuss the matter once talks with Hana Financial Group over grants are concluded. Kim intends to ask the two holding companies for grants of about 100 billion won each.
In 2009, as the government encouraged the business community and the financial sector individually to establish Smile Microcredit foundations, Hana Financial Group, Shinhan Financial Group, Woori Financial Group, and others paid contributions and set up their own foundations. The foundations provide low-interest loans to low-credit borrowers using contributions as funding. NongHyup Financial Group does not currently have a Smile Microcredit Foundation. KINFA plans to propose that NongHyup Financial Group establish a new foundation and offer low-interest loans to young people returning to farming.
This year, Kim met with Jin Ok-dong, chair of Shinhan Financial Group, Yang Jong-hee, chair of KB Financial Group, and Yim Jong-ryong, chair of Woori Financial Group, to discuss grants to the Smile Microcredit Foundation. Afterward, Shinhan Financial in March became the first in the financial sector to grant an additional 100 billion won to the Smile Microcredit Foundation. It was the first additional grant since the foundation's launch in 2009. KB Financial and Woori Financial then each added 100 billion won to the Smile Foundation.
Recently, the government has been expanding its inclusive finance stance. The Financial Services Commission will launch an inclusive finance task force next month to broadly discuss measures ranging from embedding inclusive finance into financial firms' governance to rationalizing prudential regulations. On this basis, KINFA is also said to be proposing that financial holding companies participate in inclusive finance through contributions to the Smile Microcredit Foundation.