Hana launches financial aid project worth $19 billion

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo / Courtesy of Hana Financial Group

By Lee Min-hyung

Hana Financial Group will launch a financial support project worth 26 trillion won ($19 billion) to help those in need amid economic uncertainty, the company said Sunday.

The financial holding firm will team up with its key affiliates to help around 700,000 financially vulnerable people here by offering a series of programs, including interest rate cuts for its loan products.

The project will be carried out in four areas targeting the self-employed, vulnerable borrowers, those in need of household loans and society. The group will join hands with its key financial subsidiaries ― Hana Bank, Hana Card and Hana Savings Bank ― for more systemic progress on the project, the company said.

“Financial firms should stand at the forefront of creating a road for co-prosperity with the socially vulnerable in this period of economic uncertainty here and abroad,” Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo said. “We will make group-wide efforts for our customers to actually receive financial aid.”

First and foremost, the company will allocate 19 trillion won to support around 350,000 small business owners, so they can overcome the prolonged pandemic shock, exacerbated by steep interest rate hikes. Starting from October, Hana Bank will operate a program helping the self-employed and small business owners to keep receiving loan benefits even after the government ends a related financial aid policy this month.

Hana will cut its loan interest rate by 1 percentage point for self-employed business owners who have to extend their loans with an annual interest rate of more than 7 percent. If they signed any loan products with other financial institutions with such a high interest rate, Hana will help repay the loans and offer a lower interest rate on them.

Hana Card will also cut its interest rate by 1 percentage point for the self-employed whose sales fell by more than 30 percent after the pandemic started in early 2020. Customers of the card firm's card loan products can receive the benefit.

Hana Bank will also support young people and the elderly facing financial difficulties, allocating a budget of 3 trillion won for them. Specifically, the bank will run a special program for young entrepreneurs. Any young startup owners who have started their companies less than seven years ago can receive a 0.7 percentage point interest rate benefit from the lender's loan products.

Hana also pledged to fulfill its corporate social responsibility by operating social programs worth 1 trillion won over the next five years. They include job creation for young people and re-employment education for the elderly.