Hana Financial Group will strengthen group governance by appointing Vice Chairman Lee Seung-yeol (이승열) as chief inclusive finance officer, or CIFO. After executing more than 60 percent of this year’s annual inclusive finance target in the first half, it will move in the second half to support youth and small merchants, protect debtors and expand social solidarity finance.

Hana Financial said on Tuesday it will strengthen its inclusive finance execution framework to help the recovery of the people’s economy and address financial blind spots.

The group appointed Lee, head of the Sustainable Growth and Inclusive Finance division, as CIFO. The step is aimed at managing progress in inclusive finance projects at group level and boosting execution across affiliates.

Hana Financial executed more than 60 percent of 3.1 trillion won set as this year’s inclusive finance target in the first half. In the second half, it plans to speed up support through regular performance checks and task management.

Its second-half inclusive finance strategy is made up of four areas: support for youth and small merchants, embedding inclusive finance, debtor protection and financial crime prevention, and expansion of social solidarity finance.

In youth support, it will expand efforts to prevent rental deposit fraud, help asset building and support start-ups. Hana Bank plans to fully cover premiums for the "Youth Guardian Rental Fraud Guarantee Insurance" for about 10,000 young people who newly take out jeonse loans in the second half.

Support for small merchants will be expanded in connection with the group headquarters relocation to Cheongna International City in Incheon in September.

Hana Financial will provide 840 billion won in guaranteed loans for small merchants by making a special 5.5 billion won contribution to the Incheon Credit Guarantee Foundation this year. It also plans to offer preferential financial benefits to merchants affiliated with Incheon’s local currency, Incheon e-Eum, and the public delivery application Meokkebi.

It will additionally allocate 10 billion won in emergency operating funds for small merchants in Incheon through an overdraft-style credit line. It will also expand unsecured and unguaranteed financial support and incentives for faithful repayment through products such as the "One and Only Boss Loan".

It is also reviewing the introduction of key performance indicators, or KPI, to reflect inclusive finance in the group’s management system. It plans to manage inclusive finance results and execution responsibility by separating group-wide management areas and affiliate-specific areas.

It will also revamp its credit evaluation system for thin filers with limited credit histories and for small merchants. Hana Bank plans to apply in the second half a "third advanced alternative credit scoring model" that combines alternative data such as telecom information.

It also plans to take part in a pilot operation of a "small merchant specialized credit scoring model" pushed by the Financial Services Commission and provide preferential rates and higher loan limits depending on evaluation results.

It will also increase supply of mid-rate and retail finance products such as Hana OneQ Safe Mid-Rate Loan, Saehopeumholssi and Haetsal Loan. It also plans to execute the amount scheduled for the second half this year from its plan to make an additional 100 billion won contribution to the Hana Smile Microfinance Foundation.

In debtor protection, it completed in the first half the write-off of 400 billion won in long-overdue debt and the cleanup of debt for which the statute of limitations was expiring. In the second half, it will expand its own debt restructuring to support vulnerable debtors returning to economic activity.

Hana Bank explained that it prevented about 677.4 billion won in voice phishing losses over the past three years by using an artificial intelligence-based abnormal financial transaction detection system and a voice phishing response framework. In the second half, it will strengthen analysis of new fraud types and customer-specific response systems.

In social solidarity finance, it will expand participation in social investment funds and tailored financial support for social solidarity economy organisations such as social enterprises and innovative companies.

Hana Financial Chairman Ham Young-joo (함영주) said, "Inclusive finance is a basic responsibility that a financial group should rightly shoulder," adding, "In the second half, we will focus our capabilities on improving the effectiveness of financial support for youth, small merchants and vulnerable groups, and on embedding inclusive finance within the group and strengthening execution."