After the announcement of the 6·27 loan regulations, credit loan supply linked to savings banks and online investment-linked finance firms has drastically decreased. Although online investment products do not fall under the scope of the 6·27 regulations, it has become difficult to attract funds as the savings banks directly affected by the regulations have withdrawn. Concerns are also being raised that the impact of the 6·27 measures may have long-term negative effects on the operation of products linked to savings banks.
According to the financial sector on the 11th, the total loan approval amount of five online investment firms (PFCT, Honest AI, Eight Percent, MoneyMove, and Moudah) handling savings bank-linked loan products was provisionally estimated at about 400 million won from June 28 to July 4. This is about a quarter of the approval amount (1.56 billion won) from the previous week, from June 21 to June 27. Some firms among the five are reported to have seen their loan approval amounts drop to nearly 0 won immediately after the 6·27 measures were implemented. This means that the savings bank-linked products dealt a severe blow to their operation after the implementation of the 6·27 measures.
Savings bank-linked credit loans are structured so that savings banks provide funds while online investment firms lend money to financial consumers. Unlike banks and savings banks under current law, online investment firms are not directly affected by the 6·27 measures. Therefore, the credit loans handled by online investment firms are not subject to the newly established income limit restrictions for credit loans within annual income. However, as savings banks providing the loan funds are directly influenced by the 6·27 measures, they are reluctant to inject capital.
Even if a financial consumer borrows credit loans exceeding the annual income through linked products, neither the savings bank nor the online investment firm is violating regulations. However, given that financial authorities emphasized their commitment to strictly manage household loan statuses after the announcement of the 6·27 measures, it is a common analysis within the online investment industry that savings banks are hesitant to actively provide funds, fearing they would disregard the policy direction. Furthermore, the financial authorities held a household debt inspection meeting on the 9th and announced they would monitor the outstanding balance of online investment loans on a daily basis. In line with this, online investment firms have also raised the approval threshold for loans to comply with the credit loan annual income limit. As a result, while the demand for savings bank-linked credit loans remains unchanged, they are unable to operate the products smoothly due to indirect regulatory impacts.
Within the online investment industry, there is a growing concern that the savings bank-linked system may falter. The savings bank-linked products have been a long-standing goal of the industry since they were promoted from 2021. After being designated as innovative finance and obtaining temporary authorization last year, the linked products were launched for the first time this year. The primary justification for the linked products presented during the application for innovative finance was the expected benefit of increasing credit loans at lower interest rates for those with medium to low credit. However, the 6·27 measures have caused disruptions in the operation of these products, making it more challenging to increase supply performance.
An official from the online investment industry noted, “The innovative finance period is initially two years and can typically be extended for another two years. If the performance of credit loan supply for medium to low credit borrowers is poor in the first two years, I am worried that we won’t be able to realize the purpose of obtaining the innovative finance service, which may jeopardize the sustainability of the system.”
Meanwhile, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) will begin on-site inspections of the real estate loan status for PFCT and Eight Percent starting today. The outstanding balance of housing collateral loans handled by the two firms exceeds 10 billion won, making them significant players in the real estate loan sector. The FSS plans to examine loan statuses and the loan review process to prevent a balloon effect toward online investment firms following the 6·27 measures.