KakaoBank Achieves Record-High 1Q Net Profit of 187.3 Billion Won on Customer Growth and Business Diversification

KakaoBank recorded a record-high net profit of 187.3 billion won in the first quarter of this year. This strong performance was driven by a significant increase in non-interest income, boosted by expanded customer acquisition and the diversification of its business through lending, platform, and asset management activities. KakaoBank announced plans to further expand inclusive finance for individual business owners as well as mid- and low-credit customers in the second quarter, following the first quarter, utilizing its alternative credit scoring model.

Through a regulatory filing on the same day, KakaoBank reported that its net profit for the first quarter of this year increased by 36.3% compared to the previous record high of 137.4 billion won in the first quarter of last year.

KakaoBank’s operating revenue for the first quarter reached 819.3 billion won, up 4.4% year-on-year. Non-interest income, excluding interest income from loans, was tallied at 302.9 billion won, marking a 7.5% increase compared to last year and surpassing the 300 billion won threshold for the first time on a quarterly basis. The proportion of non-interest income in total operating revenue for the first quarter was also reported at 37%. Fee and platform revenues amounted to 80.8 billion won, a 4.1% increase year-on-year. KakaoBank explained that this was the result of diversifying revenue streams through increased advertising revenue, joint loans, travel services, and surveys. The total amount of payments made with debit cards remained at the 6 trillion won level for four consecutive quarters. Starting in the second half of the year, KakaoBank plans to further strengthen its payments segment by sequentially launching new card products, including personalized benefit debit cards, cards exclusively for youth and foreigners, and its second private label credit card (PLCC).

Profit from asset management was recorded at 152 billion won. Although this represents a decrease of 12.8 billion won compared to the first quarter of last year due to a reduction in fund income caused by rising market interest rates, it showed improvement over the fourth quarter of last year thanks to higher short-term fund yields. The combined sales balance of money market fund (MMF) box and funds reached 1.6 trillion won, up from 1 trillion won in September last year. With the successful stock market listing of Superbank, an Indonesian digital bank in which KakaoBank made its first global investment, an investment valuation gain of 93.3 billion won was reflected as non-operating income. KakaoBank also plans to continue expanding its global business strategy in key Asian markets, including collaboration with Indonesia’s Superbank, a virtual bank in Thailand, and the MCS Group in Mongolia.

As of the end of the first quarter this year, KakaoBank’s outstanding loan balance was 47.699 trillion won, representing a 7.7% increase year-on-year. KakaoBank explained that this growth was driven by inclusive finance areas such as policy finance products and financial products for low-income individuals, as well as loans for individual business owners. Since its launch, KakaoBank has supplied 16 trillion won in mid- and low-credit loans, with 450 billion won provided in the first quarter of this year alone. As a result, the proportion of new mid- and low-credit loans in the first quarter exceeded 45.6%, and the share in the total loan balance surpassed 32.3%. Strengthening financial support for self-employed individuals and small business owners, the outstanding loan balance for individual business owners increased by 348 billion won from the end of last year to 3.403 trillion won at the end of the first quarter this year.

Despite the increase in mid- and low-credit loans, the delinquency rate in the first quarter remained at 0.51%, while the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio (0.53%) and credit loss ratio (0.55%) also stayed at the same level as the previous quarter. KakaoBank explained that it managed asset quality through data analysis-based credit risk policies and advances in credit evaluation models. It was found that 52% of customers who took out mid-credit loans in the first quarter saw their credit scores rise within one month of loan execution. On average, their credit scores increased by 49 points, and 20% were upgraded to high-credit status, according to KakaoBank. This is believed to be due to the effect of reducing high-interest loans by partially or fully repaying non-bank loans, which outweighed the impact of increased debt.

Deposit balances at the end of the first quarter this year were 69.356 trillion won, an increase of 8.951 trillion won (14.8%) compared to the first quarter of last year. While the balance of installment savings decreased due to a strong domestic stock market, the balances of demand deposits and time deposits grew. The balance of group accounts stood at 11.6 trillion won at the end of the first quarter this year, with the number of users steadily increasing to 12.9 million. Thanks to products such as group accounts and AI-powered services, the customer base has continued to grow. The number of customers at the end of the first quarter this year was 27.27 million, up by 570,000 from the end of last year. KakaoBank is now used by 80% of all people in their 40s and 62% of people in their 50s in Korea, and the proportion of customers among all minors under the age of 20 also rose to 31%. In the first quarter of this year, KakaoBank’s monthly active users (MAU) and weekly active users (WAU) were 20.32 million and 15.02 million, respectively.

KakaoBank also plans to continue efforts to enhance shareholder returns and value based on sustainable growth. After raising its shareholder return rate for the 2025 fiscal year to 45%, the company aims to further increase the shareholder return rate to 50% for profits generated in the 2026 fiscal year.

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