Imunhwan's Relief Appearance Boosts K-Bank's Customers, Loans, and Soundness 'Soaring'

Monthly Average New Customers in the Second Half of the Year Increase 5 Times

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyojin] "We will devote ourselves to disrupting the realm of non-face-to-face finance."

Lee Moon-hwan (photo), who stepped in as a savior for K-Bank in March this year when it was unable to operate normally due to financial difficulties, has presented significantly improved results after eight months. The bank has shown remarkable growth in customers, loans, and soundness. This is attributed to accelerating business operations led by non-face-to-face apartment mortgage loans (Adamdae).

According to the banking sector on the 1st, the number of K-Bank customers, which was about 1.35 million at the end of June this year, jumped to 1.69 million at the end of September and 1.98 million at the end of last month. Since July, the monthly average increase was about 126,000 customers, totaling approximately 630,000.

From December last year to June this year, over half a year, the increase was only 150,000 customers, averaging 25,000 per month. However, after resuming loan operations based on a 400 billion KRW capital increase in July, the monthly average number of new customers grew about fivefold.

The increase in customers has led to growth in loan volume. As of the end of November, K-Bank's loan balance was about 2.7 trillion KRW, an increase of 1.44 trillion KRW (114%) compared to 1.26 trillion KRW at the end of June. Total assets at the end of the third quarter rose to 3.2799 trillion KRW, 1.6 times the previous quarter's 2.0605 trillion KRW.

The delinquency rate was 1.22%, a significant improvement compared to 1.97% in the first quarter and 2.36% in the second quarter. The ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) also dropped from 2.7% to 1.61%, a decrease of 1.09 percentage points. K-Bank explained that the resumption of lending increased the loan balance denominator, rapidly improving soundness indicators.

K-Bank recorded a loss of 70.3 billion KRW in the third quarter, reducing the deficit by 3.9 billion KRW compared to the same period last year.

The driving force behind K-Bank's rebound is Adamdae, launched after more than two years of development. It is highly regarded for its competitive interest rates and a system that can complete loan execution in as fast as two days. The introduction of the banking sector's first electronic repayment authorization form, enabling all delegation procedures required for refinancing to be done via mobile, is considered a key factor.

K-Bank's Adamdae recently surpassed a cumulative handling amount of 100 billion KRW. Considering that loan applications were accepted from customers selected by lottery starting August 27, this achievement was made in about two and a half months.

A survey conducted by K-Bank on about 100 Adamdae loan customers showed that the average interest rate of the housing mortgage loans (Judamdae) they held before switching to Adamdae was 3.03% per annum, while the average interest rate for Adamdae loans executed last month was 2.24% per annum.

At a press conference last August, President Lee stated, "We will accelerate synergy with our shareholders and double the achievements made over the past three years by the end of the year." If the current trend continues through this month, it is expected that the goals in key areas such as loans will be achieved.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.