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| Kakao Bank co-Chief Executives Yoon Ho-young, right, and Lee Yong-woo answer reporters' questions at a press conference at the company's headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, Friday. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Kakao Bank, the country's second internet-only bank, is gearing up to start new services for its mobile customers next year.
Marking the 100th day since the bank's foundation, co-Chief Executives Yoon Ho-young and Lee Yong-woo said it will offer loans for customers who need to pay security deposits before moving into apartments.
All it takes to secure the loan is a photograph of the required documents taken and submitted via the bank's smartphone application.
The service will be introduced in the first quarter of next year. A credit card service will follow.
The credit card business could start in the second half of 2019, given the time the bank needs for regulatory approval, the CEOs said.
From Tuesday, Kakao Bank's customers will be able to withdraw money from their mobile accounts via automated teller machines (ATM) at convenience and discount chain stores nationwide. They can do so with their smartphones at CU, Seven Eleven and Lotte Mart.
Lotte Cinema and Lotte Duty Free also will install ATMs to enable cash withdrawals via the Kakao Bank application. And customers will be able to pay their bills via the "Pay Info" service by next year.
Kakao Bank has grown rapidly over the past three months.
The number of customers signing up for accounts surpassed 4 million last month.
More than 3 million customers have received the Kakao Bank Check Card.
"We deeply appreciate our customers' interest during our first 100 days," said Yoon and Lee said. "We will continue innovating our services to provide differentiated experiences for our customers."
However, they said the government needs to deregulate rules governing bank ownership.
The Banking Act strictly forbids nonfinancial companies from owning more than a 4 percent share in lenders.
The law was introduced to safeguard banks from being misused by manufacturing conglomerates. But it also made it difficult for banks to raise capital in the nonfinancial sector.
Yoon said Kakao Bank's pace of innovation may "slow down" if the government does not deregulate the law.
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