This meeting is an official pre-event of APEC hosted by the Republic of Korea, the 2025 APEC Chair. It was held in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and was attended by approximately 3,200 people including international organizations and delegations from each country, including ministerial meetings in three areas: employment/labor, education, and trade.
KCD was invited as a presenter at the Asia Pacific Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Inclusive Finance Forum. They introduced ‘Cashnote’ as a case of inclusive finance based on digital technology, and also shared the vision of the Korea Soho Bank Consortium, which aims to be the ‘No. 1 bank for micro, small and medium enterprises’ led by Korea Credit Data.
At the forum, KCD introduced the development process of CashNote, a management service that reduces the actual management burden of small business owners. CashNote has established itself as a management infrastructure that automatically collects and analyzes sales, expenditure, and customer information to help business owners make decisions. CashNote has grown into a super app that supports all business operations of small business owners, from sales management to financial services, product purchases, and community functions. As of May, the number of businesses that have adopted CashNote has reached 1.7 million nationwide, and the number of businesses that use the KCD community’s services has reached a total of 2.5 million.
SOM2 attendees from around the world showed great interest in the inclusive innovation finance for small business owners by the Korea Soho Bank Consortium. The Korea Soho Bank Consortium is an internet bank for small business owners who are in the blind spot of the services provided by existing financial institutions, and major financial and IT companies including KCD are participating. The attendees showed great interest in the combination of a new credit rating system based on data from private IT companies and finance, and paid attention to the possibility of expanding financial accessibility for small business owners.
Kang Ye-won, head of data at Korea Credit Data, said, “True inclusive finance begins with a proper understanding of the smallest units of the economy. I hope that our experience in Korea will help design policies and services for SMEs in APEC countries,” adding, “I hope that the 2025 APEC Summit to be held in Gyeongju will be the starting point for discussing sustainable development of SMEs in the Asia-Pacific region, and that Korea Credit Data’s Cash Note will serve as an inspiration for innovation in those discussions.”
This year’s APEC Summit will be held in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do from late October to early November 2025. The summit, scheduled to be held at the Bomun International Convention Complex in Gyeongju, is expected to attract approximately 20,000 people, including heads of state and delegations from 21 member countries and 2-3 invited countries. The next president of the Republic of Korea will attend the event as the 2025 APEC Chairman.
You must be logged in to post a comment.