Kim Dong-ho, CEO of Korea Credit Data, "Will Surpass Break-even Point This Year"

Kim Dong-ho, CEO of Korea Credit Data

"This year, sales are expected to reach 180 billion KRW, and we anticipate that operating profit will break even around the fourth quarter."

Kim Dong-ho, CEO of Korea Credit Data, said at a press conference held on the 11th at the Korea Conference Center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, "Our business has successfully achieved the first phase growth mission of 'overwhelming market dominance,' and we have now entered the second phase of growth focused on maximizing customer experience."

Korea Credit Data disclosed its performance for the previous year on the same day. The company's consolidated sales last year were 64.6 billion KRW, about ten times higher than the previous year's 6.8 billion KRW. The operating loss ratio decreased from 363% to 57%, about one-fifth of the previous level. During the same period, Korea Credit Data's customers increased by 67%, from 1.2 million to 2 million. Sales in the first quarter of this year have already reached 33 billion KRW. Based on this, the company forecasts sales of 180 billion KRW for this year.

Korea Credit Data's core business is the management service for self-employed and small business owners called 'Cash Note.' Cash Note started with sales management (bookkeeping service) by hour, day, week, and month, which self-employed individuals frequently encounter, and has expanded into various businesses including ▲analytics ▲store operation information ▲finance ▲food material market ▲community.

Korea Credit Data has also expanded its business portfolio through mergers and acquisitions. It acquired Korea Payment Networks (payment solutions), I'm U (POS specialist company), and Korea Biz Connect (corporate support information service). It also operates five subsidiaries, including Korea Evaluation Information (credit evaluation for individual business owners) and Korea Business Experience (customer experience specialist company). Kim Dong-ho, CEO of Korea Credit Data, said, "All our group companies share the common customer base of self-employed individuals," adding, "We aim to grow by leveraging each company's expertise to help small business owners, who are the foundation of our economy, run their businesses better."

Since its establishment in April 2016, Korea Credit Data has attracted about 160 billion KRW in investments. Last year, it received investments from LG Uplus and Fiserv, which recognized its corporate value at 1.07 trillion KRW, elevating it to the so-called 'unicorn company' status (a private company valued at over 1 trillion KRW).

Korea Credit Data plans to soon launch ‘Cash Note Plus Membership,’ which combines insurance products with the Cash Note service. The company is currently filing terms and conditions with the Ministry of Science and ICT to start telecommunications services from the second quarter of this year.

CEO Kim also expressed expectations for the 'specialized bank' (challenger bank) currently being discussed for adoption in the financial sector and the 'small license' system, which subdivides banking licenses. Kim said, "We are well-positioned to operate a challenger bank specialized for small business owners," adding, "We can analyze the business success potential of stores based on data." He continued, "However, the financial authorities have not yet announced clear policy directions," and added, "Once the direction is decided, our business entry will also be determined."

The company expects to go public (IPO) in 2025. CEO Kim said, "We are looking at the capital market environment improving in about two years," and added, "We expect that the conditions for listing will be sufficiently met around 2025."

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