K Bank and KakaoBank Corp Launch First Joint Project to Find Financial Ideas for Small Business Owners with College Students

[Financial News] K Bank and KakaoBank Corp have joined forces to support the growth of small business owners. It is the first time the two internet-only banks have co-hosted a contest to discover financial products and services for small businesses.
According to the financial sector on the 31st, K Bank and KakaoBank Corp said they signed a business agreement on the 28th to jointly host the "Financial Ideas Contest for Small Business Owners," aimed at exploring financial products and services for small businesses.
The contest was designed to identify innovative ideas that can support the growth of small business owners and improve the efficiency of business operations.
It is open to college and graduate students nationwide. Participants may enter individually or in teams of up to four, and applications will be accepted through the official contest website in September. The two banks plan to combine students' fresh perspectives with on-the-ground feedback from small business owners to develop new financial product and service ideas that reflect real demand.
Participants must choose at least one of three tasks: marketing to raise awareness of non-face-to-face loans for small business owners, planning new financial products and services based on customer interviews, or identifying and solving pain points in small business finance.
To ensure direct access to field feedback, each task must include interviews with at least 10 small business owners. The banks expect to uncover financial inconveniences faced by small businesses in various industries and identify services they need, leading to ideas that can provide practical help on the ground.
Winning entries will be selected through a fair review by the two banks' business units and outside judges, and an awards ceremony is scheduled for November. The total prize pool is 34 million won, with 20 million won for one grand prize winner, 5 million won each for two excellence awards, and 2 million won each for two merit awards. The two banks also plan to consider using the winning ideas in future financial products, services and marketing for small business owners.
Meanwhile, K Bank and KakaoBank Corp have steadily expanded their lending to sole proprietors. In the first half of this year alone, K Bank supplied 152 billion won in sole proprietor loans, reaching about 82% of last year's annual total in just six months. As of the end of the second quarter, KakaoBank Corp's outstanding sole proprietor loans stood at 3.687 trillion won, up 284 billion won from the previous quarter.
[email protected] Lee Hyun-jung Reporter