Anna Jiwon Park has been covering the politics at The Korea Times since the summer of 2024, when she joined the press pool for the Office of the President in Korea. Prior to that, she spent about five years reporting extensively on financial markets, regulatory authorities and the financial industry. She joined The Korea Times in 2019 after spending eight years as a broadcast journalist at Arirang TV, Korea’s leading global broadcaster, covering politics, defense and culture.
KakaoBank plans foray into Southeast Asian markets
KakaoBank CEO Yun Ho-young speaks during a press conference held at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Anna J. Park
Internet-only bank seeks to balance innovation, expansion
By Anna J. Park
KakaoBank plans to advance into the Southeast Asian region within the next few years, as talks are currently ongoing with potential partners in the target countries.
During a press conference held at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul on Tuesday, KakaoBank CEO Yun Ho-young said he expects to see tangible developments by the end of this year.
“Foraying into overseas markets is not an easy task, as banks are required to secure banking licenses in foreign countries. Yet, many foreign companies suggested we cooperate in business, seeing KakaoBank's success and platform capabilities,” Yun said during the press conference.
The chief of the internet-only bank added that it hasn't yet been decided whether the advancement into overseas markets would be through mergers and acquisitions with companies in the target countries or through securing banking licenses independently there.
“Currently, talks are ongoing with two Southeast Asian countries. It is expected that we can announce some tangible results within this year with one of them, while we expect to see visible developments with the other country by the end of this year,” Yun told The Korea Times during the press conference.
KakaoBank CEO Yun Ho-young speaks during a press conference held at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
The CEO also stressed that the bank will increase its investment proactively into artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to be able to provide more innovative services for customers. He defined the bank as a “technological bank,” as about 40 percent of its employees have engineering backgrounds. The CEO said the internet bank's tech strength makes it the most fitting for adopting new state-of-the-art technologies.
“KakaoBank has been investing consistently in AI technologies, operating our own AI strategic units within the bank. The bank will continue research and development in large-scale language models and the utilization of AI technologies,” the CEO said.
While technological innovation is one axis of the internet-only bank's core, the other axis is its inclusive efforts to extend services to a wider range of customers. The internet-only bank has provided a total of 7.1 trillion won ($5.3 billion) worth of loans to low- to medium-credit borrowers since the bank was officially launched in 2017.
The bank has also accepted customers' demands for lower interest rates, providing 16.9 billion won worth of benefits. The bank said it also paid ATM fees of 249.4 billion won, instead of shifting the fee burden to customers.
“I think it's beneficial for customers that KakaoBank offers loans to a wider range of low- to medium-credit borrowers,” Yun said. “KakaoBank will continue providing loans to low- to medium-credit borrowers in a sustainable manner. Also, the bank will strengthen its social contribution efforts with its environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) units.”
Currently, over 20 million customers are using KakaoBank. The bank plans to strengthen its platform power through partnerships with other businesses, providing a wider variety of benefits to customers. The bank has so far partnered with 7-Eleven, Ottogi, Melon and Megabox in its financial products.
KakaoBank CEO Yun Ho-young speaks during a press conference held at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
Meanwhile, KakaoBank will expand its mortgage loan services beyond apartments to other forms of housing on Thursday. So far, the internet-only bank's mortgage loans are available only for apartment residents, but it will be expanded to include more housing types.
The bank has also launched a new fandom-based savings deposit account, letting customers decorate their savings accounts with images of their favorite stars.