The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises said on Aug. 3 it will run a "Yellow Umbrella online enrollment promotion" throughout August.
Through the end of this month, small business and microbusiness owners who newly enroll via the Yellow Umbrella website or mobile will receive a 50,000-won Naver Pay or Kakao Pay mobile coupon.
In the first half of this year, new Yellow Umbrella enrollees totaled 150,307, up 3.2% from 145,621 in the same period last year. Small business and microbusiness owners who enrolled online numbered 36,709, an 8.9% increase from 33,701 a year earlier. Yellow Umbrella can be joined through various channels, including commercial banks and other financial institutions, benefit plan counselors, and online.
Yellow Umbrella is a benefit plan operated since 2007 by KBIZ to help small business and microbusiness owners stabilize their lives and restart operations when they face management crises due to closure or old age. As of the end of last month, the number of registered enrollees surpassed 1.91 million.
Enrollees can receive up to 6 million won per year in income tax deductions. Compound interest is applied annually to the principal paid in. By law, the benefit payout is protected from seizure and can be used as living funds.
They can also receive the "Hope Incentive," which local governments offer to new enrollees. Depending on the region, an additional 10,000 to 30,000 won per month is contributed to the savings for 12 months. This year, 17 metropolitan governments and 110 basic local governments nationwide are operating the program.
Lee Chang-ho, head of the benefit plan division at KBIZ, said, "The share of customers enrolling online conveniently, without constraints of time and place, is on the rise."