友利银行个人信用贷款利率上限7%计划年内已惠及6.4万客户，减免利息24.1亿韩元

A 45-year-old employee at a large company, identified as A, was approaching maturity on a 73.8 million won loan from Woori Bank under its "Woori WON Salaried Worker Loan" program. The rate calculated for the extension came to 11.50% a year. But Woori Bank's ceiling on personal credit loan rates cut the figure by 4.5 percentage points, allowing A to save 3.22 million won in annual interest.
A 44-year-old identified as B, who had worked at a small company, found it difficult to extend an existing salaried-worker loan after losing his job. Needing money for living expenses, he borrowed 35 million won through "Woori Win-Win All-Care Loan (New Hope Holssi II)," a lending product for low-income and low-credit borrowers. The initially calculated rate was 8.19% a year, but the ceiling lowered the final rate by 1.19 percentage points. B's annual interest burden fell by 420,000 won.
More than 60,000 customers have received interest reductions this year as Woori Bank capped personal credit loan rates at 7% a year. Concerns have been growing that rate increases by the central bank could raise financing costs for vulnerable borrowers, and the ceiling has worked to lower those interest burdens.
From the start of this year through the end of last month, 64,553 customers were covered by Woori Bank's ceiling on personal credit loan rates, according to financial industry sources on the 27th. Loans subject to the cap totaled 705.4 billion won. Customers saved 2.41 billion won in interest, an amount borne by Woori Bank.
Woori Bank plans to maintain the program through the end of this year despite increases in the central bank's policy rate and market rates. "Cumulative support will grow as new loans continue to be extended and interest reductions on existing loans carry on," an official at the bank said.
Woori Bank announced the ceiling on personal credit loan rates late last year to ease borrowers' burdens. From early this year, the cap was first applied to customers extending or renegotiating credit loans they had held at the bank for a year or more. From late March, the bank expanded coverage to new personal credit loans for customers who had held deposits, savings accounts, credit cards or housing subscription savings accounts for at least a year. New borrowers receive the 7% ceiling once, for up to one year.
Woori Bank is also expanding lending to mid- and low-credit borrowers and vulnerable groups. Such lending totaled 421.8 billion won in the first half of this year. By product, New Hope Holssi — funded and underwritten by the bank itself for low-income, low-credit borrowers — accounted for 412.3 billion won. Sait-dol mid-rate loans came to 7.8 billion won, while Sunshine Loan special guarantees and general guarantees supplied 1.3 billion won and 400 million won, respectively.
In March, the bank launched "Woori WON Dream Living Expense Loan," an inclusive-finance product for low-income vulnerable groups. Workers, freelancers and homemakers with annual income of 25 million won or less can borrow up to 10 million won. The rate is likewise capped at 7% a year. Repayment can be spread over up to 10 years, including a three-year grace period. The bank applies alternative credit scoring that draws on financial, telecommunications and small-payment data, improving access for customers who lack documented income.
Woori Bank is also working to launch a "mid-rate living stability loan" introduced by financial regulators before the end of the year. The product allows financial companies to lend up to 10 million won on their own credit assessment, without guarantees, to mid- and low-credit borrowers in the bottom 50% of credit scores. "We will continue to expand inclusive finance that improves customers' access to financial services and eases their financing costs," an official at the bank said.