Nonghyup Bank names President Kang Tae-young inaugural chair of 'NH Smile Microfinance Foundation' to support vulnerable groups

[Financial News] Nonghyup Bank is establishing the NH Smile Microfinance Foundation to support the economic independence of financially vulnerable groups. The foundation plans to provide low-interest funding to self-employed people with low incomes and poor credit, and to develop financial products tailored to agriculture and rural communities.
According to the financial sector on the 28th, Nonghyup Bank held the founding general meeting of the incorporated association NH Smile Microfinance Foundation at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 27th.
At the meeting, with the founding promoters in attendance, key matters related to the foundation's operations were approved, including adoption of its articles of association, appointment of officers and a chairperson, and approval of its business plan and budget. Kang Tae-young, president of Nonghyup Bank, was appointed its inaugural chairperson.
The NH Smile Microfinance Foundation plans to provide startup, operating and facility-improvement funds, among others, at low interest and without collateral or guarantees to small-scale self-employed people with low incomes and poor credit, as well as financially vulnerable groups, who have difficulty accessing institutional financial services.
The foundation will also pursue the development of specialized products tailored to the financial needs of the agriculture and rural sectors, including those of farmers and young people returning to farming or relocating to rural areas. It aims to ease the burden of raising funds for financially vulnerable groups and support stable economic activity and the establishment of a foundation for self-reliance.
Kang Tae-young, chairman of the NH Smile Microfinance Foundation, said, “We decided to establish this nonprofit foundation to put the values of ‘coexistence and cooperation,’ NACF’s core philosophy, into practice more actively in the financial sector,” adding, “We will spare no effort to provide full support so that the foundation can bring tangible vitality to agriculture, rural communities and the livelihoods of ordinary people, and become firmly established as a successful inclusive finance model that fulfills the financial sector’s social responsibility.”

[email protected] Seo Ji-yoon Reporter