In the first half of 2026, requests for interest rate reductions in the banking sector exceeded 2.679 million, marking an increase of over 70% compared to the previous quarter. This surge is attributed to the introduction of a service where MyData providers regularly request interest rate reductions on behalf of consumers.
According to the Bankers Association's report on the '2026 First Half Banking Sector Interest Rate Reduction Request Operations,' the number of requests rose by 77.0% from 1.513 million in the second half of last year to 2.679 million this year.
The number of accepted requests reached 512,000 in the first half of this year, a 22.5% increase from 418,000 in the previous half. The total amount of interest reductions granted was 73.43 billion won, which is an increase of 550 million won (0.8%) compared to the second half of last year. While the amount of interest reductions for household loans rose from 33.75 billion won to 40.29 billion won, an increase of 6.54 billion won (19.4%), reductions for corporate loans decreased from 39.13 billion won to 33.14 billion won, a drop of 5.99 billion won (15.3%).
As the number of requests increased, the acceptance rate fell from 27.6% in the second half of last year to 19.1%, a decline of 8.5 percentage points.
The Association noted that the promotion of system improvements in the banking sector and the introduction of the MyData-based interest rate reduction request service contributed to the rise in requests. This service allows financial consumers to authorize MyData providers to regularly submit interest rate reduction requests to financial institutions after an initial consent.
An Association official stated, "We will continue to expand the foundation for the use of interest rate reduction requests by businesses and individual entrepreneurs, while also enhancing the convenience for individual financial consumers."
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.