KakaoBank Q1 Net Profit 46.7 Billion KRW... 152% Increase YoY

Rapid Increase in Users in Their 50s
Improvement in Profitability Including Net Interest and Fee Income

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] KakaoBank announced on the 17th that its consolidated net profit for the first quarter of this year reached 46.7 billion KRW, a 152.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Operating profit during this period surged 193.5% to 54 billion KRW.

As of the end of the first quarter this year, the number of users (including customers using services without account opening) was 16.15 million, an increase of about 700,000 compared to the end of 2020. By age group, the user base of KakaoBank is expanding across all ages as users aged 50 and above have increased. Among the population aged 50 and above, 11% were KakaoBank users, and the proportion of users aged 50 and above among all KakaoBank users was 15%, the highest since the launch of customer services in July 2017.

KakaoBank also maintained the top position among financial companies in terms of monthly active users (MAU) of its mobile app, which reflects actual usage. Nielsen KoreanClick estimated that KakaoBank’s app had 13.35 million MAUs during March.

During the same period, the amount transferred through KakaoBank reached 79.1 trillion KRW, about 160% of 49.33 trillion KRW from the same period last year. As of the end of March, deposit balances stood at 25.391 trillion KRW, an increase of 1.852 trillion KRW compared to the end of last year. Demand deposits accounted for 57% of this balance.

Loan balances saw a 29 billion KRW decrease in high-credit product balances in the first quarter, but expanded by 1.292 trillion KRW compared to the end of last year due to increased supply of jeonse and monthly rent deposit loans and loans for middle- and low-credit borrowers, reaching 21.605 trillion KRW. The balance of youth jeonse and monthly rent deposit loans for those aged 34 and under increased by 676 billion KRW in the first quarter.

KakaoBank supplied 63.5 billion KRW in mid-credit loans based on its own credit in the first quarter. In April alone, it supplied 54.5 billion KRW, expanding loan opportunities for middle- and low-credit borrowers. The delinquency rate fell by 0.01 percentage points from the end of last year to 0.21%.

The platform business segment also continued its growth. The stock account opening application service, which allows quick account opening with Korea Investment & Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and KB Securities, surpassed 3 million cumulative accounts by the end of last year, and 614,500 new accounts were opened through KakaoBank in the first quarter of this year. Linked loans connecting loan services from secondary financial institutions expanded from 2 trillion KRW at the end of last year to 2.53 trillion KRW by the end of March. The number of check card users, payment performance, and users of affiliated credit card application services are also increasing.

As a result, KakaoBank recorded a net profit of 46.7 billion KRW in the first quarter of this year. Net interest income was 129.6 billion KRW, and net fee income from non-interest sectors was 13.2 billion KRW. The CD and ATM costs paid by KakaoBank on behalf of customers in the first quarter amounted to 13.6 billion KRW. Total assets at the end of the first quarter were 28.6164 trillion KRW. The BIS total capital ratio was 19.85%.

This year, KakaoBank is strengthening its financial platform business capabilities based on over 16 million users and the top mobile app MAU traffic, while expanding the scale of mid-interest rate loan supply and related loan product services in the loan sector. In March, the mid-credit loan limit was raised from 50 million KRW to 70 million KRW, and this month, interest rates were lowered by up to 1.20 percentage points. In the second half of this year, a dedicated loan product for middle- and low-credit borrowers will be launched. Data cooperation for upgrading the credit evaluation system is also underway.

A KakaoBank official said, “We will strengthen financial inclusion by expanding mid-interest rate loans, and in the platform sector, we will expand connections not only with financial companies but also with non-financial companies to introduce products and services that offer enjoyable experiences in daily life.”

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