Banking Sector "Building an Inclusive Financial Environment" Invests 1.8934 Trillion Won in Social Contribution

Last year, the scale of social contribution activities in the banking sector increased by 15.8% (258.5 billion won) from the previous year to 1.8934 trillion won. It is the largest scale ever.

The Korea Federation of Banks announced this in the '2024 Bank Social Contribution Activities Report' published on the 29th.

Since 2006, the banking sector has been publishing reports annually to transparently disclose the content and results of its social contribution activities. The scale of social contribution, which was 351.4 billion won in 2006, has maintained an annual level of over 1 trillion won since 2019, continuing its upward trend.

By sector, 1.1694 trillion won (61.8%) was allocated to community and public interest, and 547.9 billion won (28.9%) to financial services for the underprivileged, accounting for a high proportion of the total amount. This was followed by 75.4 billion won (4.0%) for arts and culture, 13.1 billion won (0.7%) for the environment, and 13.2 billion won (0.7%) for global initiatives. The Korea Federation of Banks explained, "This is the result of the banking sector's efforts to revitalize the local economy, create a sustainable economic ecosystem, and build an inclusive financial environment."

The report also includes information on the banking sector's efforts to recover the people's economy, such as support plans for people's finance, win-win finance, public-interest-linked financial products, major financial education programs, and alternative store operation status.

This year, the banking sector introduced activities to overcome the low birthrate crisis in themed social contribution activities and separately introduced a 2.1 trillion won people's finance support plan announced in October 2023 and a banking sector social responsibility project to support vulnerable groups with a total of 580 billion won over three years from 2023.

Cho Yong-byeong, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Banks, said, "We hope that the report will widely publicize the various social contribution activities of the banking sector and serve as an opportunity for positive change in our society," adding, "The banking sector will continue to be a reliable partner for the people, addressing the challenges faced by our society and fulfilling its role as a solid pillar of the financial market."

gogosing@fnnews.com Park So-hyun Reporter