[DigitalToday reporter Ji-young Lee] Shinhan Bank said on Tuesday it will launch a New Hope Holssi virtuous-cycle inclusive finance programme from Feb. 6 to improve financial access for financially vulnerable groups and expand practical financial support.

The programme targets low-credit customers in the bottom 20 percent by KCB standards. It supports customers by converting high-interest unsecured loans they hold at Shinhan Bank into New Hope Holssi loans with a long-term installment repayment structure.

After the conversion, a fixed annual interest rate of 6.9 percent will apply. The loan term will be offered for up to 10 years. The approach directly reduces principal and interest repayment burdens for high-interest, low-credit customers. The programme will cover about 65,000 people as of end-January 2026.

Customers can apply through their existing loan management branch. Those who have difficulty visiting a branch can proceed through non-face-to-face document submission and other methods.

Shinhan Bank also plans to introduce a more sophisticated alternative credit evaluation model for low-income borrowers within the first quarter of 2026. A shift to a proactive credit evaluation system based on alternative information and non-delinquency is the core of the plan, aimed at lowering barriers for low-credit customers.

A Shinhan Bank official said, "We are pursuing inclusive finance in a direction that provides practical help for long-term credit recovery rather than ending with one-off support." The official added, "We will help customers build a foundation for recovery by providing both interest burden relief and improvements to repayment structures."