Cafe24 offers easier credit for online merchants

Cafe24, a Korean e-commerce platform provider, is offering unsecured loans to online sellers in partnership with KB Kookmin Bank.

The partnership enables online merchants of all sizes without collateral or a guarantor to apply for the loan from KB Kookmin Bank.

“It is the first loan service that an e-commerce company and a top-tier bank have rolled out exclusively for e-commerce merchants in Korea,” Cafe24 said in a statement Tuesday.

Online merchants have not been able to utilize loan services from major financial institutions because they did not have physical stores to put up as collateral. They had access to loans with relatively higher interest rates with lower limits.

Sellers operating a Cafe24 online store with a payment gateway system for more than a year are eligible to apply for the loan. There are no business size or sales volume requirements.

Cafe24’s individual client can borrow up to 100 million won ($90,100), while a corporate client can borrow up to 300 million won.

Applications ban be filed via a mobile app developed by Cafe24 and KB Kookmin Bank.

Lee Jae-suk, CEO of Cafe24, said, "Together, we are making top-tier banking services more accessible to businesses, offering them a chance for greater growth." He added, "We will continue to provide more financial services that help e-commerce businesses succeed."

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]