South Korea's major commercial banks are progressively shutting down lending windows as their approved annual household loan quotas have nearly been exhausted. KB Kookmin Bank and Hana Bank have announced suspensions of mortgage loan services at branches, while Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank stated they would halt lending if loan concentration intensifies.
According to data from the country's four largest banks (KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Hana Bank, and Woori Bank) as of November 20, new household loans (excluding policy loans) reached 7.89 trillion won. This figure exceeds by 33% the banks' initial annual target of 5.9493 trillion won submitted to financial authorities. Regulatory measures implemented on June 27 required banks to reduce their second-half household loan growth targets to 50% of initial plans.
Consequently, banks have begun closing new household loan channels. KB Kookmin Bank suspended all home purchase loan services (both online and offline) starting November 24, including transfers of various loans (mortgages, jeonse loans, credit loans) from other banks and its non-face-to-face "KB Star Credit Loan I, II" products. Hana Bank will stop accepting new mortgage and rental loan applications for 2023 from November 25.
Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, and NongHyup Bank currently maintain normal lending operations. Notably, NongHyup Bank still has approximately 300 billion won remaining in its annual household loan quota. Individuals needing urgent payments may turn to these three banks or internet banks. Kakao Bank has already experienced loan quota sell-outs immediately upon daily release.
Financial observers suggest some of these banks may soon impose household loan restrictions. Shinhan Bank plans to consider lending caps if loan inflows become overly concentrated, while Woori Bank has set monthly 1 billion won limits per branch for real estate financial products and may voluntarily suspend non-face-to-face lending based on future loan growth trends.
With mortgage channels constrained, households are increasingly turning to credit loans. As of November 20, new credit loans reached 1.3843 trillion won - the highest monthly increase since July 2021 (1.8637 trillion won), with ten days remaining in the month. A commercial bank official noted: "With real estate loans restricted, credit loans are being widely used for apartment down payments, while demand for stock investment loans has surged significantly."
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