▲ Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Bok-hyun speaks with a young person receiving financial counseling near Ttukseom Station in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, on the 22nd, the first day of the launch of the Youth Future Savings Account.
Financial authorities are set to expand the provision of financial counseling for young people to over 100,000 cases per year. To achieve this, the infrastructure will be increased nearly tenfold by the end of this year, and the proportion of counseling services outside the Seoul metropolitan area will be expanded to better reflect the actual population distribution.
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) announced today (June 30) that it held the third meeting of the task force (TF) for "Financial Counseling for All Youth."
The meeting was held to announce the implementation plan for the "Financial Counseling for All Youth" project and to conduct a final review of the current state of preparations.
The core of the plan is to increase the number of counseling sessions to over 100,000 per year, remove regional and temporal restrictions, and strengthen support for vulnerable young people.
The number of counseling centers will be increased sequentially from the current 21 to 133 in July, and to over 200 by the end of the year, with a focus on bank branches. Additionally, 119 "visiting financial counselors" will be appointed and deployed.
Furthermore, a "visiting financial counseling" service will be operated nationwide, where experts visit the time and location requested by the young person to provide guidance.
The program, which previously operated on an irregular basis, will now be available on a regular basis, allowing young people to apply and receive counseling whenever they need it.
The "visiting financial counseling" service and bank counseling branches will be operated with consideration for the proportion of the youth population residing outside the metropolitan area (44.7%).
The plan is to increase the proportion of branches outside the metropolitan area from the current approximately 30% to 47%.
For young people facing financial difficulties, such as those with low credit scores or excessive debt, the program will connect them with specialized counseling services focused on resolving credit and debt issues.
"Financial Counseling for All Youth" will operate through a process of financial diagnosis, application for counseling, the counseling session itself, and follow-up consultation.
The entire process is provided free of charge.
An incentive system will also be established.
Financial institutions are considering providing appropriate incentives to outstanding counselors and incorporating related performance metrics into the banking sector's inclusive finance evaluation index.
A working-level consultative body will be formed and operated among the organizations managing the youth financial counseling project to strengthen collaboration.
This year, the Financial Supervisory Service will implement the project targeting financially vulnerable youth (such as those preparing for independent living), while the Korea Financial Industry Public Service Foundation will support financial counseling for youth outside of Seoul to minimize gaps in service coverage.
Synergy effects will be enhanced through linkage with policy-based financial products.
Young people who receive "Financial Counseling for All Youth" will be offered a 0.2 percentage point preferential interest rate on the "Youth Future Savings Account," and financial counseling will be designated as a mandatory requirement for using the "Youth Future Connection Loan."
The plan is to begin providing financial counseling to young people starting next month on the 16th.
Young people aged 19 to 34 can apply for financial counseling on the "Financial Counseling for All Youth" website starting July 6.
Kwon Dae-young, Vice Chairman of the FSC, who presided over the meeting, stated, "Financial Counseling for All Youth is a groundbreaking attempt that differentiates itself from previous financial education by providing 1-on-1 customized services that consider the individual circumstances of each young person." He added, "If all relevant institutions join forces, more young people will be able to discover hope and possibilities for their lives instead of fear and anxiety regarding finance."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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