Youth Future Savings Account second round opens Oct 7 with up to 19.4% effective rate

Second-round applications for South Korea's Youth Future Savings Account open on Oct 7 and run to Oct 16, excluding weekends and public holidays, the Financial Services Commission and the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency said, according to Yonhap, Newsis and Maeil Business. BNK Kyongnam Bank said it will take applications through its mobile banking app over the same period. On Oct 7 only people whose birth year ends in an odd number may apply and on Oct 8 those born in an even-numbered year, with anyone eligible from Oct 12 to 16, the outlets and the bank said. Applications are made without submitting documents through the apps of handling institutions, Yonhap said. [ 1 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 9 ]

Applicants must be aged 19 to 34, with military service of up to six years left out of the age calculation, and the round is open to people born between Nov 17, 1991 and Nov 27, 2007, Newsis and Maeil Business reported. The income test is total salary of 75 million won or less — or comprehensive income of 63 million won or less — or annual revenue of 300 million won or less for a small business owner, together with household median income of 200% or less, according to BNK Kyongnam Bank, SBS News, Newsis and Yonhap. Dong-A Ilbo reported that President Lee Jae-myung said the 200% household median income condition applies through this round. Newsis and Maeil Business said applicants choose among the general income earner, small business owner and SME employee categories, and that small-business applicants must obtain a small-business owner certificate before applying. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 ]

The product is a three-year free-instalment savings account that accepts payments of between 1,000 won and 500,000 won a month, with an annual limit of 6 million won, BNK Kyongnam Bank said. It pays a government contribution of 6% for the general type or 12% for the preferential type and exempts interest income from tax, according to the commission via Yonhap and the other outlets. Counting the rate, the contribution and the tax exemption together, outlets described an effective rate of up to 19.4% for the preferential type; Yonhap gave 18.2% to 19.4% for preferential and 13.2% to 14.4% for general, while Newsis cited 14.4% for the general type. Maeil Business calculated that paying 500,000 won a month for three years in the preferential type would give 18 million won in principal plus 2.16 million won in government contribution and 2.39 million won in interest. BNK Kyongnam Bank said it applies a 5% base rate with up to 2 percentage points of preferential rates, and that no contribution is paid for total salary above 60 million won though other benefits remain. [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 ]

After applications, reviews take place and results are announced Nov 12 to 13, with account opening and first payments from Nov 16 to 27, Yonhap, Newsis and Maeil Business reported; BNK Kyongnam Bank gave the same account-opening window. Newsis said the agency would run reviews from Oct 19 to Nov 13. Existing Youth Leap Account holders are offered a chance to switch to the new product in this round: they must apply during the window and, if approved, open the new account first and then request a special early termination of the old one, Yonhap, Newsis and Maeil Business said. Newsis said the two accounts cannot be held at the same time, and that the contribution and tax exemption already accrued on the old account are preserved in such a switch. [ 1 , 5 , 6 , 8 , 9 ]

Newsis, Yonhap and Maeil Business reported that a 2027 government budget plan for the program, if confirmed through National Assembly review, would expand who can join and raise the preferential contribution rate from 12%. Yonhap and Maeil Business put the new rate at 15% or 25%, while Newsis said 15%. Yonhap and Maeil Business said the changes would be applied retroactively to existing subscribers, and that those now receiving only the tax exemption would be paid the general-type contribution. [ 6 , 8 , 9 ]

President Lee Jae-myung promoted the plan on X on Oct 4. Dong-A Ilbo and SBS News reported he wrote that the government will add its strength to young people's futures and support them as they prepare step by step, and that eligibility will be expanded to all young people from next year. Newsis reported that in the same post he said he would push practical reform that improves people's lives without wavering and that reform is for the people and the country rather than a means to attack someone; the outlet's text was cut off mid-sentence. Choi Myung-hee, head of BNK Kyongnam Bank's individual customer group, said the bank began the second round in response to interest in the product and to give more young people a chance to build assets, and said it would continue practical financial support for young people's economic independence. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]