More than 2 million applicants… The budget is at least 380,000 people
Increased anxiety regarding the possibility of early closing on a first-come-first-served basis… Criticism of “hasty implementation of unripe system”
From the first day of subscribing to the ‘Youth Hope Savings Savings’, which produces the highest ‘10% annual interest rate’, there was a rush of applicants, resulting in a delay in access to the bank’s mobile banking application (app). The window of a bank branch where there were usually a lot of middle-aged people was unusually crowded with young people. As the number of applicants for membership increased more than expected, the government was belatedly considering follow-up measures such as budget increases.
According to the banking industry on the 21st, access to some banks’ mobile banking apps, including KB Kookmin NH Nonghyup, was delayed for an hour or two from 9:30 a.m. on the same day 11 banks offered Youth Hope Savings. An official of KB Kookmin Bank explained, “The connection volume has increased significantly as interest rates are high and the number of customers is large, so the number of applicants for the Youth Hope Savings Savings Savings Account has been flocking at once.”
The Youth Hope Savings Savings Bank provides interest rates of up to 6% per annum. If it is maintained until maturity, tax-free benefits and savings up to 360,000 won are added to the government budget. It has the effect of receiving an interest rate of up to 10.49% per annum. Young people (ages 19-34) can join if their total salary as of 2021 is less than 36 million won. The payment limit is 500,000 won per month and the maturity is 2 years.
As the number of subscribers was expected to be strong due to the benefits, the financial authorities implemented a five-part system for subscription applications according to the year of birth. On this day, only those born in 1991, 1996, or 2001 might apply. However, it was difficult to avoid overheating. As the possibility of ‘early closing on a first-come-first-served basis’ was mentioned, the craze for membership grew stronger. The budget for this year’s Youth Hope Savings Savings Program is 45.6 billion won, and if all subscribers meet the monthly payment limit (500,000 won), the number of people who can join is 380,000. KB Kookmin Shinhan Hana Woori, NH Nonghyup, and other five major banks, the number of people who applied for a ‘preview’ to check the availability of subscription reached 2 million (including duplicates).
Young people are worried that even if they apply, they will be rejected. According to the 5 sub-system, it is even said that subordinated applicants born in 1990, 1995, and 2000 will have difficulty in joining due to the early deadline. Kim (29), who was born in 1993 and can apply on the 23rd, said, “I’m worried that my membership will be rejected or the limit will be reduced.”
Banks and applicants alike are confused because the guidelines are not clear. On the 21st, the first day of subscription, banks received applications by 6 pm through the app and by 3:30 pm at the window without any restrictions as long as they met the birth year requirement according to the five sub-system. However, there are no guidelines from the authorities on how to select subscribers from the more than expected number of applicants.
The government was late to come up with countermeasures. The Financial Services Commission said, “As a result of the preview operation, the demand for subscriptions is expected to increase, so we are discussing the direction of operation with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.” In the end, the method of increasing the budget prevails. This is because refusal of applicants on other days of the week on the grounds of ‘exhaustion of the budget limit’ can lead to strong backlash.
There are also criticisms that the government hastily implemented an unprepared, unripe system to capture the youth vote. It is criticized that the banknote ‘preview’ service was able to estimate demand, but it failed to meet the demand too low, and in the end, the budget was not sufficiently prepared.
Reporter Kim Ja-hyun zion37@donga.com
