KaKaoBank Attracts Individual Entrepreneurs... Surpasses 130,000 Customers Within One Month of Service Launch

Supply of 50 Billion KRW in Personal Loans... Customized Financial Services for Individual Entrepreneurs

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] KakaoBank attracted more than 130,000 customers within a month of launching banking services for individual business owners.

KakaoBank announced on the 2nd that the number of individual business owner customers surpassed 130,000. This milestone came one month after launching the 'Individual Business Owner Banking' service on the 1st of last month, which includes exclusive accounts, cards, and loans for individual business owners.

Among individual business owner customers, one in four (27.7%) had been in business for less than one year. Those with business experience between one and three years accounted for 30%, between three and five years 22.1%, and those with over five years of experience made up 20.2%.

By age group, customers in their 30s (34.2%) and 40s (36.5%) comprised 70.6% of the total. Those aged 20 and below accounted for 12.5%, while those aged 50 and above made up 16.8%.

Individual business owner credit loans reached approximately 50 billion KRW within a month of launch. KakaoBank explained that loans were supported by comprehensively evaluating creditworthiness, industry type, business district, and asset ownership, even for those with short business experience.

Among customers who actually received loans, those with less than one year of business experience accounted for more than 10%. In addition to verified income, repayment ability was assessed based on sales figures, resulting in 32% of loan recipients having verified income of 10 million KRW or less.

By incorporating card sales data into the credit evaluation model, businesses with steady sales received additional points during assessment. In particular, 55% of business owners in the food and lodging and beauty industries received bonus points, enabling them to obtain loans with higher limits and lower interest rates.

KakaoBank plans to gradually launch guaranteed loans and secured loan products starting next year. They also intend to secure additional interest rate competitiveness by promoting policy fund loans provided through agreements with public institutions and local governments. Furthermore, by expanding the loan portfolio, KakaoBank aims to find and offer the optimal loan for individual business owner customers through a single KakaoBank application (app).

In the future, KakaoBank plans to provide not only banking services such as accounts, cards, and loans but also useful solutions for individual business owners to operate their businesses, all within the KakaoBank app. Specifically, they plan to sequentially expand services starting with highly versatile functions such as tax management and sales management.

The 'Sajangnim Home' (Boss Home) screen exclusively for individual business owner customers, launching on the 5th, aligns with this approach. It offers customized banking services by gathering only what individual business owner customers need. Customers using 'Individual Business Owner Banking' can switch between personal home and Sajangnim Home to manage business assets such as individual business owner accounts and loans separately from personal assets.

Using the 'Request Deposit' button in 'Sajangnim Home,' customers can quickly and easily share account numbers with clients or customers and send deposit request messages. The 'Stories for Sajangnim' menu provides practical content helpful for business.

A KakaoBank official stated, "We have successfully taken the first step in expanding the know-how accumulated in personal banking to corporate banking," and added, "We will continue to introduce various products and services that can accompany the entire business journey of individual business owners."

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