Shinhan Financial Expands Support Including Long-term Delinquency Interest Waivers

Shinhan Financial Group announced on August 3 that, starting this month, it will expand its mutually beneficial financial project, "Help-up & Value-up," aimed at easing the financial burden of low-income customers, to Jeju Bank and Shinhan Savings Bank.

Jeju Bank will support local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners by fully waiving approximately KRW 200 million in outstanding overdue interest for about 800 customers with long-term delinquencies on Jeju Credit Guarantee Foundation-backed loans, following subrogation by the guarantee institution. As of the end of July, Jeju Bank will also reduce the interest rates on corporate loans (up to KRW 1 billion per borrower) and household loans for SME and small business owner customers with rates of 10% or higher, lowering them to single digits for up to one year, including at maturity. In addition, for all newly issued Sae-Hope Holssi loans this year, the interest rate will be set 1 percentage point lower than the calculated rate. The expected number of beneficiaries is about 400 customers, with an estimated loan amount of KRW 16 billion.

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Shinhan Savings Bank will fully waive approximately KRW 4 billion in outstanding overdue interest for about 8,000 long-term delinquent customers whose principal on certain guaranteed household loans has been repaid by the guarantee institution or through legal proceedings. For about 4,800 Hugloan users with interest rates exceeding 15% as of the end of July, the interest rate on approximately KRW 35 billion in loans will be uniformly reduced to 15% for the next year. Starting from August 1, for all newly issued credit loans for low-income customers (Hugloan and Chamshinhan Loan) this year, the interest rate will be set 1 percentage point lower than the calculated rate, with an estimated 30,000 customers benefiting from approximately KRW 300 billion in loans.

The annual target for the ongoing "Bring-up & Value-up" project, which enables high-quality savings bank customers to refinance with banks, will also be increased. The cumulative target will be raised by about KRW 7 billion to KRW 20 billion, allowing approximately 420 additional customers to save about KRW 700 million in interest costs.

Jin Okdong, Chairman of Shinhan Financial Group, stated, "The 'Value-up' series by Shinhan Financial is the result of deep consideration to provide practical support when customers need it most." He added, "We will continue to implement execution-focused support measures to establish a credit improvement structure and enhance the effectiveness of mutually beneficial finance through tailored support by each group company."

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