Compare a Korea GEPS pension loan with a bank quote
This calculator helps active Korean public officials compare Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) borrowing with a bank loan under Korean 2026 rules.
A lower advertised interest rate does not necessarily mean a lower total cost once guarantee insurance, bank fees, repayment methods and interest-only grace are included.
A published policy ceiling also does not mean that the full amount will be available to an individual borrower.
The tool estimates personal capacity first, then compares the same actual principal, total term and grace on both sides.
Use the result for a concrete decision
Typical uses include general living expenses, a home purchase or housing deposit, and checking a relevant Happy Leap welfare category.
Officials approaching retirement can also view the remaining principal of the new loan against a separately entered lump-sum cash estimate.
Save the evidence-labelled report for a GEPS enquiry or a bank requote; the calculator does not predict approval or remaining programme funds.
Check the 2026 applicant restrictions first
The current GEPS product is for active public officials taking their first GEPS loan, or those who fully repaid previous pension loans by 31 December 2025.
Only one application is permitted during 2026, and new applications after retirement or after an advance retirement-benefit claim are restricted.
Although the original roadmap mentioned retirees, this implementation follows the current product conditions and does not treat retired applicants as eligible for a new loan.
- A NICE score of 514 or lower is restricted; so is existing GEPS debt above half the expected benefit, or GEPS debt plus arranged bank borrowing above the expected benefit.
- Personal rehabilitation, credit recovery and insolvency restrictions cannot be inferred from a score alone.
Check them with GEPS before selecting the no-restrictions answer. - Home purchases have separate conditions, including the 85 m² exclusive-area ceiling, at least two years without homeownership for the applicant and spouse, and the once-during-service rule for purchase applications from July 2021.
Housing deposits require the applicable homeownership, contract and settlement conditions. - Welfare borrowing requires the relevant family, leave or medical category and quarterly funding.
Do not assume that a particular subcategory, including the youth product, is always open.
The purpose answer is a self-check.
The calculator does not assess homeownership evidence, contract validity, settlement-date windows, or the final acceptability of supporting documents.
Understand the inputs and their evidence states
Retirement benefits and debts
Use the expected retirement-benefit amount reported by GEPS, including the retirement allowance.
Do not substitute a monthly pension multiplied by a chosen number of months, or an estimate based only on service length.
GEPS debt includes the applicable GEPS-reported liabilities, such as student loans; the arranged-bank field is for the relevant public-official arrangement, not every ordinary credit loan.
Confirmed, assumed or unknown
Confirmed evidence requires a confirmation date.
Assumptions produce conditional results, while unknown evidence withholds the dependent result.
An unknown fee is different from a confirmed zero fee.
GEPS, bank and guarantee confirmation dates cannot be later than the comparison date.
Service months are recorded for reference and are not used with an invented benefit multiplier.
Housing capacity is also limited by the eligible actual purchase amount, deposit or deposit increase.
Use the contractual amount that GEPS recognises, rather than the property value or an unrelated balance.
Evidence states and dates remain in the TXT report so that assumptions can be distinguished during a later enquiry.
NICE ceilings and the half-benefit capacity rule
2026 NICE policy ceilings for general, housing and welfare loans, in KRW| NICE score | General | Housing | Welfare |
|---|
| 805–1000 | 20,000,000 | 60,000,000 | 30,000,000 |
| 665–804 | 10,000,000 | 50,000,000 | 10,000,000 |
| 515–664 | 5,000,000 | 30,000,000 | 5,000,000 |
| 0–514 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Unsecured limit formula
Unsecured capacity U = max(0, expected benefit B × 0.5 − existing GEPS debt D)
Take the smaller of U and the applicable policy/purpose ceiling, then round down to KRW 100,000 units.
The minimum application amount is KRW 1,000,000; a rounded capacity below that becomes a zero application limit.
Do not add together the different product ceilings or assume they are simultaneous borrowing allowances.
For example, KRW 40,000,000 of expected benefits and no GEPS debt give KRW 20,000,000 of unsecured capacity.
Even with NICE 850, the KRW 60,000,000 housing policy ceiling is not automatically the personal limit.
GEPS can adjust the amount if the score band changes before disbursement, so check the final payment conditions as well as the application figures.
Additional guaranteed capacity and insurance costs
GEPS describes conditions for guarantee insurance on borrowing beyond half the expected benefit.
This model accepts the additional capacity above the unsecured limit that GEPS / SGI has checked, and still applies the policy and purpose ceilings.
It does not assume that the whole nominal insurance amount becomes additional lending capacity, nor does it predict insurer underwriting.
Compare capacity and net cost together
Expanded limit = min(policy/purpose ceiling, U + checked additional capacity), rounded down to KRW 100,000
With KRW 40,000,000 of benefits, no GEPS debt, a qualifying housing purpose and KRW 30,000,000 of additional capacity, the estimated limit rises from KRW 20,000,000 to KRW 50,000,000.
A KRW 60,000,000 funding need still leaves a KRW 10,000,000 gap.
Borrowing costs for that gap are excluded from the same-principal comparison.
Enter your actual quoted insurance premium in KRW.
Unknown guarantee evidence withholds the expanded limit and net comparison, while retaining the unsecured reference limit.
A large premium can make GEPS more expensive overall even when its interest rate is lower.
Recheck guarantee-specific application and repayment-adjustment conditions directly with GEPS.
Amount-based repayment limits include grace
GEPS uses equal-principal repayment, with a minimum total term of six months.
Grace is part of the total term.
A 12-month total term with six months of grace means six interest-only months followed by six principal instalments.
Total-term and grace caps by actual comparison principal, in months| Principal in KRW | Total cap | Grace cap |
|---|
| 1,000,000 to below 2,000,000 | 12 | 6 |
| 2,000,000 to below 3,000,000 | 24 | 6 |
| 3,000,000 to below 4,000,000 | 36 | 6 |
| 4,000,000 to below 5,000,000 | 48 | 6 |
| 5,000,000 through 20,000,000 | 72 | 12 |
| Above 20,000,000 | 120 | 24 |
If a KRW 30,000,000 request is reduced to an actual comparison principal of KRW 20,000,000, its total-term ceiling becomes 72 months.
The calculator withholds schedules and cost comparisons when the selected term no longer fits the actual amount.
Grace must be shorter than the total term.
It lowers early principal payments but adds interest-only months, so assess the total cost as well as the initial payment.
Interest, payments and finance-cost formulas
Equal principal: GEPS and bank
Let P be principal, T total months, g grace, n = T − g and monthly rate r = annual percentage rate ÷ 1200.
Grace payments are P × r, with no principal repayment.
During amortization, principal is P ÷ n and interest is the opening balance × r.
Monthly payments generally decline as the balance falls.
Equal payment: bank option
The amortizing payment is A = P × r ÷ (1 − (1 + r)^(−n)).
At 0% interest, use P ÷ n instead.
Grace remains interest-only.
Check that the bank actually offers the same total term and grace used in the comparison.
GEPS finance cost = total interest + guarantee insurance premium
Bank finance cost = total interest + entered borrower-paid bank fees
Cost difference = bank finance cost − GEPS finance cost
A positive difference means GEPS costs less under the entered assumptions; a negative difference means the bank costs less.
Principal is identical on both sides and is excluded from finance cost, while principal plus interest and fees is also shown separately.
Calculations retain decimal precision and round only displayed amounts to whole KRW, so rounded monthly rows can differ from the summary.
Actual daily accrual, GEPS rounding and future quarterly rate paths can produce different billed amounts.
Use the calculator and save an evidence-labelled report
- Obtain your GEPS application history, NICE score, expected benefit including allowance, and debts.
Record the lookup date separately from the comparison date. - Select the product and check any housing or welfare conditions.
Enter the eligible housing amount, checked extra guarantee capacity and premium. - Enter required funding, total months including grace, grace months and the official base rate for the relevant quarter.
Happy Leap subtracts 1 percentage point automatically; do not enter an already discounted base rate. - Enter an actual bank quote for the same principal, total term and grace, including the repayment method and borrower-paid fees.
- Review the limit, funding gap, first amortizing payment, maximum monthly payment and total finance costs.
Changed inputs mark the displayed snapshot as stale; recalculate to export it. - Save TXT or print the report, complete the preparation checklist, then confirm GEPS conditions or request a matching bank requote.
GEPS applications open from 9 a.m. on the quarterly implementation date until funds are exhausted.
An estimated limit does not confirm that funding remains available.
Current guidance describes portal/mobile applications and submission of supporting evidence within three business days after applying.
Check the latest notice and document status before relying on funding for a settlement commitment.
Worked fictional example: KRW 20 million general loan
Assume NICE 850, KRW 100,000,000 of expected benefits, zero GEPS debt and satisfaction of the other applicant conditions.
Compare KRW 20,000,000 over 60 months with zero grace, GEPS at 4.64%, and an equal-principal bank loan at 5.50% with KRW 100,000 of bank fees.
This is a calculation check, not a personal quote or an official GEPS disbursement example.
Fictional equal-principal comparison, KRW rounded to whole won| Metric | GEPS | Bank |
|---|
| First monthly payment | 410,667 | 425,000 |
| Total interest | 2,358,667 | 2,795,833 |
| Premium / fees | 0 | 100,000 |
| Total finance cost | 2,358,667 | 2,895,833 |
The difference calculated before rounding is approximately KRW 537,167 in favour of GEPS.
Subtracting two separately rounded displayed totals can differ by KRW 1.
A lower bank rate or larger guarantee premium can reverse the result.
Choosing equal payment for the bank changes both the payment profile and total interest; assess whether the maximum monthly payment fits your budget.
Interpret retirement balances and rate sensitivity
The default Q4 rates apply from 2026-10-01 through 2026-12-31: 4.64% for general/housing and 3.64% for Happy Leap.
GEPS rates vary quarterly and are not guaranteed for the full loan term.
Sensitivity changes both alternatives simultaneously by −1 percentage point, zero, and +1 percentage point, with a 0% floor.
It is a hypothetical constant-rate exercise; different repayment methods can respond differently to rate changes.
Relate the balance to actual retirement cash
After the 24th payment in the fictional example, new-loan principal is KRW 12,000,000.
If actual retirement lump-sum cash is assumed to be KRW 30,000,000, deducting only that principal leaves a KRW 18,000,000 reference amount.
Zero months means immediately after disbursement; after maturity, the balance is zero.
Do not enter lifetime monthly pensions as an immediate lump sum.
Article 38 of the Korean Public Officials Pension Act provides for deductions of unpaid loan principal and interest from benefits.
This calculator deducts only the new principal and excludes other debts, taxes, unpaid interest and the actual deduction notice.
The limit on deductions from each monthly pension payment is separate from the half-benefit borrowing-capacity rule.
With unknown retirement cash, the new principal balance remains visible but remaining cash and shortfall are withheld.
Frequently asked questions
Can retired officials apply for a new loan here?
The current product restricts new applications after retirement.
Distinguish the broad lending authority in Act Article 77 from the actual product conditions.
Check active-service and advance-benefit-claim status with GEPS.
Does NICE 805 guarantee KRW 20 million for a general loan?
No.
That is a policy ceiling.
Half-benefit capacity after GEPS debt, purpose amounts, guarantee conditions, restrictions and funding still matter.
Can I enter zero when I do not know the insurance premium?
Select unknown instead.
A confirmed zero and an unresolved cost are different.
Unknown guarantee evidence withholds expanded capacity and net comparison.
Should I enter 3.64% as the Happy Leap base rate?
Enter the general/housing base of 4.64% for the default quarter.
Happy Leap subtracts 1 percentage point automatically.
Entering an already discounted rate would duplicate the discount.
Verify the relevant quarter.
Why compare the same principal and grace?
Different amounts mix funding-size effects into the cost difference.
Use the actual reduced comparison principal with the same total term and grace.
Arrange and price the remaining funding gap separately.
Can KRW 20 million be repaid over 120 months?
The current KRW 5 million through KRW 20 million band allows up to 72 total months including grace.
Above KRW 20 million, the 120-month total and 24-month grace caps can be considered.
Are early-repayment charges and DSR calculated?
GEPS states that it has no early-repayment fee, but this comparison assumes repayment through the selected maturity.
Bank early repayment, bullet maturity, DSR treatment and further credit approval are outside the model.
Check actual agreements with the lender.
Why can an actual bill differ from this schedule?
The planning model uses monthly rates and whole-KRW display rounding.
Actual payment dates, daily accrual, rounding, quarterly changes and debt settlements can produce different billed amounts.
Official evidence and your next action
Official sources were checked on 2026-10-18.
The National Law Information OPEN API returned the current Public Officials Pension Act, ID 001717, MST 290745, Act No. 21857, effective 2026-10-02.
Article 77(2)(5) authorises lending and Article 38(6) concerns deductions of unpaid loan principal and interest; product amounts, score bands and terms come from the GEPS 2026 guidance.
The current Enforcement Decree MST 290325 was also checked; its Article 75 concerns welfare-facility financing and is not used as a personal-loan ceiling rule.
Before applying, recheck quarterly rates, available product funding, housing/family documents, guarantee capacity and premium, current debts and the bank quote.
Save the report, ask GEPS to confirm the amount and permitted term, and request the same terms from the bank.
That provides a clear basis for choosing the source of funding without treating this estimate as an approval.