The "small business crisis Alimtalk," introduced by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to manage management crises among small merchants, sent more than 70,000 Alimtalk messages in the first month of service, according to tallies.
According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) on the 12th, the small business crisis Alimtalk was first introduced on Mar. 31. It was created to reflect the reality that small merchants, tied up with their livelihoods, fail to recognize crisis situations in time or face difficulties accessing support policies scattered across agencies. The MSS built a system that sends "crisis Alimtalk" messages providing policy information such as management diagnosis and debt adjustment to high-risk borrowers, borrowers in arrears, and borrowers who have closed their businesses, and connects them to comeback support programs.
A total of 75,000 Alimtalk messages were sent in the first month of the service, including 26,000 sent by five private banks. The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to expand participating banks to 17 private banks by June to strengthen crisis management capacity.
By crisis type, borrowers in arrears were the most common at about 55,000. They were followed by 14,000 borrowers who had closed their businesses and 6,000 high-risk borrowers.
As of the end of April, the cumulative number of counseling cases for small merchants who received crisis Alimtalk messages totaled about 3,500. Financial counseling, including repayment, loans, and guarantees, accounted for 60% of inquiries. Counseling for comeback support, including management improvement, business closure, re-startups, and employment, accounted for 40%. This suggests that crisis-hit small merchants feel the burden of funds as their biggest difficulty.
Linked support between institutions is also underway. Through data linkage among the Small Enterprise and Market Service, the Credit Counseling & Recovery Service (CCRS), and the Korea INclusive Finance Agency (KINFA), there have been 1,160 cases where debt adjustment and policy support were provided together.
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) plans to improve the accessibility and delivery effectiveness of crisis Alimtalk by reducing cases where it is mistaken for an advertising message, thereby enhancing on-the-ground effectiveness.
Choi Won-young, director general for small business policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), said, "Crisis Alimtalk is a proactive, field-oriented safety net that goes beyond guidance messages to connect small merchants in crisis to recovery and comeback support systems," adding, "We will continue to refine the 'one-stop comeback support system' to support everything from crisis response to a fresh start by reflecting voices from the field."