Korea Credit Bureau, a credit rating agency specialising in sole proprietors, is moving to reduce the burden on small business corporations bidding for public procurement contracts. It cut the validity period to 7 days and lowered the issuance fee to 9,000 won so firms bidding for the first time or bidding once or twice a year can use it.

Korea Credit Bureau said on Wednesday it launched an ultra-short-term credit rating certificate for small business corporations, the “7-day credit rating certificate”, through its credit rating platform Credit Note.

The 7-day credit rating certificate is designed with a 7-day validity period. It is intended to be used only for the period needed when there is a bid, and the issuance fee is 9,000 won. The company said businesses that bid once or twice a year can greatly reduce their cost burden compared with existing options.

Korea Credit Bureau has operated a service since October 2025 that issues a credit rating certificate within 3 minutes for small business corporations using only Hometax simple authentication, without submitting financial statements. The new “7-day credit rating certificate” expands Credit Note’s 3-minute issuance service into bid documents for corporate businesses.

Users can access the service using only Hometax simple authentication via Kakao, Naver and Pass, among others.

Korea Credit Bureau views that, for more volatile small businesses, the latest Hometax data can show actual business conditions more accurately than past financial statements.

Min-je (이민제) Lee, chief executive of Korea Credit Bureau, said, “When small business corporations participate in the public procurement market, credit rating assessment should be an opportunity, not a barrier.” He added, “Through Credit Note, we will help more small businesses prove their credit with their actual business performance and use it as a foothold for growth.”