Shinhan Bank said Sunday it will set up a regional finance-support platform, the Shinhan SOL Cluster, in Busan and Gwangju as it aligns with the government’s national balanced-growth strategy.
The Shinhan SOL Cluster is the bank’s regional hub designed to provide both growth-oriented and inclusive finance tied to local specialized industries. It consolidates corporate screening, consulting and financing functions into a headquarters-level support unit and assigns staff with expertise tailored to each region’s industries.
In the southwest, Shinhan will establish the “Gwangju AI Specialized Cluster” to support artificial intelligence and convergence-focused industries. The bank plans to place specialized staff for screening and business development and to provide customized lending to meet companies’ funding needs.
In the southeast, it will set up the “Busan Naval Vessel MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) Cluster” to support the shipbuilding and defense value chain. Shinhan said it will strengthen financing linked to the naval vessel MRO industry and expand supply-chain finance for regional anchor companies and their partner small and midsize firms.
Shinhan also said it will expand consumer protection and community support alongside the regional hubs, including a customer counseling center to help prevent voice-phishing scams and a hiring preference for local talent. It plans to broaden digital financial education by creating a new “Haki-jae” site in Gwangju and upgrading existing programs, and to expand support for local small businesses and regional universities through its delivery app “Ttaenggyeoyo” and the student platform “HeyYoung Campus.”
A Shinhan Bank official said the bank will build on the group’s financial hub in Jeonbuk Innovation City and the new southwest and southeast hubs to gradually expand support to areas with relatively limited access to financial services, including Gangwon and Jeju, to promote industrial growth and revitalize local economies.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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