KakaoPay "Returning to Basics... Will Become the Leader in Payment Amounts" (Comprehensive)

Shin Won-geun, Nominee for CEO of Kakao Pay

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] Kakao Pay announced on the 8th that it recorded sales of 458.6 billion KRW last year, a 61% increase compared to the previous year. However, operating losses continued at 27.2 billion KRW. Kakao Pay, which faced internal turmoil due to the stock option controversy among executives earlier this year, plans to refocus on its original intentions and establish new growth engines.

Kakao Pay's sales in the fourth quarter of last year increased by 37% year-on-year to 127.4 billion KRW, while operating losses amounted to 28.8 billion KRW. The company explained that these were due to temporarily incurred stock compensation costs, increased social insurance contributions from stock option exercises, and IPO-related expenses. A Kakao Pay representative said, "Excluding these costs, profit realization from future revenue growth will become visible."

Kakao Pay's annual transaction volume reached 99 trillion KRW, a 48% increase from the previous year, approaching 100 trillion KRW. The fourth-quarter transaction volume grew by 32% year-on-year to 26 trillion KRW.

In the financial sector, based on partnerships with 139 financial institutions, the annual transaction volume increased by 193%. Annual fund investment transaction volume rose by 156%, and loan brokerage transaction volume more than tripled, strengthening the company's position as a financial platform, according to the company.

In the payment sector, annual transaction volume grew by 67% for online payments and 77% for offline payments, showing a total growth rate of 68% compared to 2020, while remittance transactions increased by 37%.

According to Kakao Pay, as of the end of last year, the total number of users was 37.45 million, with 21.5 million monthly active users (MAU). The total number of domestic and international payment merchants reached 1.45 million. Shin Won-geun, the appointed CEO of Kakao Pay, said, "We believe we are among the leaders in the domestic simple payment market," adding, "We will continue this trend and strive to become the leader in payment amounts this year, aiming to reach this level by the end of the year."

Kakao Pay, which was embroiled in a stock option controversy among executives earlier this year, emphasized that it will set its business direction as ‘Back to the Basic’ and return to its original intentions. Shin stated, "There has been much discussion and reflection," adding, "All profits gained from exercising stock options will be used to purchase company shares, and I plan not to sell any shares I hold during my term as CEO," bowing his head.

Kakao Pay plans to focus all efforts on improving profitability through Kakao Pay Securities MTS, enhancing simple payment services, and launching a digital insurance company.

Lee Seung-hyo, Vice President in charge of Kakao Pay products, said, "We plan to provide a beta service starting mid-February," adding, "We will officially launch in March after adding fractional trading features for overseas stocks."

Regarding the MyData-based asset management service, he explained, "We have been providing the service since the official MyData implementation date on the 5th of last month," adding, "We are stabilizing the service so that users can conveniently, easily, and systematically manage their various financial assets within Kakao Pay, and we are continuously working on further enhancements."

Kakao Pay announced that it will reorganize insurance-related services, which were suspended due to the enforcement of the Financial Consumer Protection Act, and introduce new services. Shin added, "We plan not only to recover insurance sales that were unattainable in the fourth quarter but also to achieve better results," adding, "We are also preparing several new items that we consider new growth engines."

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