Commercial banks cut interest on loans... "Politics Eyes"

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As the base interest rate continues to rise these days, as the number of people who want to borrow money from banks decreases due to the interest burden, banks are lowering interest rates again.

There are also interpretations that saying that they will give you such interest on good terms is that the banks are paying attention to the new government.

Reporter Kim Jung-woo's report will be read first, and then the story will continue.

<Reporter>

Domestic banks are enjoying an all-time high boom thanks to interest on loans.

Twenty banks earned 46 trillion won in interest alone last year, a record high, and the remaining net profit after all this was close to 17 trillion won.

We are making more profit this year than last year, which was good.

The strategy of continuously raising interest rates on loans in order to avoid an overflow of people who want to borrow money worked.

[Seo Ji-yong/Professor of Business Administration at Sangmyung University: The tendency of banks to raise interest rates by making up their minds to raise interest rates as the market shifts to a supplier (bank)-oriented market has actually been a factor in the rise in lending rates.] Those

banks are now lowering lending rates.

Hana Bank and NH Nonghyup Bank started selling fixed-rate mortgage loans in the 3% range, and KB Kookmin Bank also decided to lower interest rates on various loans by up to 0.55 percentage points from tomorrow (5th).

This is because fewer customers are looking for new loans for fear of a steep rise in interest rates.

[Kim Deuk-eui/CEO of Financial Justice Solidarity: Negative bankbook, credit loan.

As the number of borrowers decreases, the source of income has to decrease.]

Political pressure also seems to have had an impact.

This is because President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol promised to “brid the excessive gap between deposit and loan interest rates,” and the transition committee is also considering ways to disclose the difference in interest rates on deposits every month.

In the end, it seems difficult to avoid criticism that banks focus only on interest trading while observing the trends of financial authorities rather than clear standards.

(Video coverage: Jeong Seong-hwa, video editing: Yoon Tae-ho)

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<Anchor>

Let's discuss this issue further with reporter Kim Jung-woo.

[Reporter Kim Jung-woo: Those who have already taken out a loan are not eligible, and will only receive a discount if they receive a new loan.

If there is a loan product with better conditions, you can pay off the loan now and change it, but in most cases, there is a fee to pay off the loan in the middle, so there is no big profit.

There is also the right to demand a rate cut.

This is the right to ask for a lower interest rate if my credit status improves through promotion or employment. No.

]

[Reporter Kim Jung-woo: Yes.

Banks now disclose the difference between the deposit interest rate and the loan interest rate, that is, the difference between the deposit and loan interest rates once every three months.

And in the case of the loan interest rate, it is determined by adding the internal interest rate set by each bank to the public base rate called Cofix.

This internal interest rate is called an additional interest rate, and how to obtain the additional interest rate is not disclosed at this time.

Because of that, there have been criticisms that if there are a lot of people taking out loans, they get more interest, and if they get less, they get less.

So, in the case of the transition committee, if so, the calculation method of how to calculate the additional interest rate is disclosed and the difference between the deposit-to-deposit interest rate is also disclosed once a month instead of three months as it is now, so that financial consumers can see and choose a loan product.]

[Reporter Kim Jung-woo: Banks say that setting loan interest rates is a trade secret that has been accumulating for decades.

And some of the financially advanced countries are criticizing them harshly for disclosing how they set their lending rates.

But the opposing views are not uncommon.

In fact, the banking industry does not compete completely free like some companies, and the government grants some permission and protection. I keep getting criticism.

Therefore, it is pointed out that there is a need for a way to convince financial consumers in any way in the future.]