KakaoBank's Revenue Diversification Pays Off, Non-Interest Income Hits 36%

KakaoBank continued its robust growth in Q1 2025, successfully diversifying its revenue portfolio based on its overwhelming customer base. It recorded an operating profit of KRW 183 billion and a net profit of KRW 137.4 billion, surging by over 20% year-on-year and achieving an all-time high performance. Customer influx was also explosive. As of the end of Q1, it secured a total of 25.45 million customers, with 570,000 new customers joining. Notably, the proportion of customers in their 40s and 50s significantly expanded to 75% and 55% respectively, demonstrating that its customer base is evenly expanding across all age groups. Its Monthly Active Users (MAU) and Weekly Active Users (WAU) also reached 18.92 million and 13.72 million respectively, breaking previous records and boasting strong traffic. In the deposits sector, driven by the strong performance of 'Moim Account', demand deposits and time deposits both saw balanced growth, with the total deposit balance exceeding KRW 60 trillion for the first time, reaching KRW 60.4 trillion. While maintaining a stable household loan policy, the lending sector spared no effort in expanding inclusive finance. In Q1 alone, it provided KRW 600 billion in loans to middle- and low-credit borrowers, raising the proportion of such balances to an all-time high of 32.8%. Following 'Sunshine Loan 15,' it also began handling 'Sunshine Loan Bank,' thereby strengthening support for low-income and low-credit individuals. Financial support for small business owners was also significantly expanded, with the outstanding balance of personal business loans more than doubling year-on-year to over KRW 2.3 trillion. In the future, it plans to strengthen its product lineup with the launch of 'Credit Loans Exceeding KRW 100 Million' and 'Non-face-to-face Mortgage Loans.' The performance in diversifying the revenue structure is particularly noteworthy. Non-interest income surged by 32.9% year-on-year to KRW 281.8 billion, accounting for 35.9% of total operating revenue and driving balanced growth. The number of loan comparison service partners nearly doubled to over 60, and the actual loan execution amount in Q1 more than doubled to KRW 1.154 trillion, significantly contributing to platform revenue growth. Strengthening investment platform competitiveness also shone, achieving KRW 164.8 billion in profit/loss from investment financial assets through efficient asset allocation strategies, including the addition of repurchase agreement products. Investments to secure future growth engines are also active. Starting from the end of this month, it plans to sequentially introduce innovative services incorporating AI technology, such as 'AI Search' and 'AI Financial Calculator.' It is also achieving remarkable results in the global market. The Indonesian digital bank 'Superbank' successfully turned profitable in less than a year since its launch and secured over 3.2 million customers. In Thailand, it is accelerating its overseas expansion by collaborating with SCBX to apply for a virtual bank license. KakaoBank stated its ambition to continue diversifying its business portfolio based on overwhelming customer traffic, expand inclusive finance, and continuously introduce innovative new services, thereby establishing itself as the comprehensive financial platform of first choice for customers.