NAVER Financial Launches Smart Place Business Loan for Offline SMEs, in Partnership with Woori Bank and Jeonbuk Bank
NAVER Financial Launches Smart Place Business Loan for Offline SMEs, in Partnership with Woori Bank and Jeonbuk Bank
NAVER Financial Launches Smart Place Business Loan for Offline SMEs, in Partnership with Woori Bank and Jeonbuk Bank
- Company to provide financial support for the 2.5 million NAVER offline SMEs including low- to mid-level credit holders and early-stage business owners in line with their credit status and business stage
- Loan limit inquiries in one minute and collateral-free loans with preferential interest rates are especially suitable for business operators who use the technical tools in NAVER Smart Place
2022.06.30
NAVER Financial announced today the launch of Smart Place Business Loan for offline SMEs, in partnership with Woori Bank and Jeonbuk Bank. The new loan service is available to all 2.5 million business owners who have registered their businesses on *NAVER Smart Place. With the introduction of the loan service, NAVER expands its financial support to offline business owners at NAVER Smart Place from its online sellers on Smart Stores
*NAVER Smart Place is an open platform for offline SMEs to register their store on the NAVER search engine and NAVER Map to provide users with useful information such as business hours and prices. It also provides useful technical tools to support business operators, including online booking service NAVER Reservation, contact-free F&B ordering service NAVER Order and NAVER Smart Call, a virtual phone service to handle customer inquiries.
To provide a financial bridge for offline SMEs that could face difficulties in getting business loans from the conventional financial sectors, NAVER Financial is offering a prime rate of up to 1%p, depending on reservation rate and order transactions on NAVER Smart Place, with special consideration given to early-stage businesses and customers with low credit ratings.
With a single application, SMEs can inquire about loan limits for all four loan services – including Woori Bank and Jeonbuk Bank’s unguaranteed/unsecured credit loan only for Smart Place business operators – and get a response within one minute. Also, Applications for Sunshine Loan Bank and Sunshine Loan 15 for low credit/low-income business operators can be made through Jeonbuk Bank.
NAVER Financial provides the loan screening results conducted by each bank using either the business operator’s joint certificate authentication or NAVER’s certificate authentication. Business owners who wish to accept the loan’s terms and conditions can apply online through the bank’s app without having to submit additional documents or visit a branch office.
Both Woori Bank and Jeonbuk Bank offer specialized benefits only for SMEs on NAVER Smart Place. Loan limits are calculated using either income or the estimated income from the credit bureau (CB), so SMEs can get a more favorable rate. In general, it is rare that the estimated income is reflected in the loan review for business operators.
Also, Woori Bank offers a prime rate of up to 0.8%p while Jeonbuk Bank offers up to 1%p when conditions such as the minimum amount or number of transactions made through NAVER Reservation or NAVER Order are met, and the revenue is deposited in the sellers’ Woori or Jeonbuk account. In addition, there is no repayment fee and Loan Security Care insurance is provided for up to one year to protect the borrower and family in case of death or severe disability.
By enabling customers to borrow from one of two trusted financial institutions, NAVER Financial is expanded banking options for SMEs to pick the loan package that works best for them. Both products allow to choose the repayment method between principal payment, level payment and balloon payment. Early-stage business owners who have been in business for more than six months may prefer Woori Bank which offers an overdraft line of credit as well as an exemption for the unused amount, with a maximum loan limit of KRW 40 million and an annual minimum interest rate of 4.4% (variable interest rate, as of June 29, 2022).
At Jeonbuk Bank, credit requirements for internal loan screening have been eased for mid-level credit holders. Business owners with a minimum of one-year operating history or an annual income of more than KRW 10 million can apply for up to KRW 50 million at a minimum annual interest rate of 5.86% (variable interest rate, as of June 29, 2022). Business operators with low credit ratings can apply for ‘Sunshine Loan Bank’ or ‘Sunshine Loan 15’, which are loans supported by Korea Inclusive Finance Agency to help low-income households start their businesses. Businesses who received a loan from this product will not only see a positive impact on their credit score if they repay it on time, but they will also be able to use the loan at a more favorable interest rate.
Offline SMEs can apply for the loans on NAVER Smart Place website and at the NAVER Business Financial Center, a comprehensive financial information platform for SMEs.
“Smart Place Business Loan is an opportunity and a milestone for NAVER Financial to expand its financial service to offline sellers beyond online businesses in NAVER ecosystem. We believe this service can help offline businesses to get more preferential loan offer amid rising interest rate,” said Park Sang-jin, CEO of NAVER Financial. “By linking various vertical services on Naver, we will support SMEs with more innovative and unparalleled financial service that can only be experienced on NAVER Financial."
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