Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
KakaoBank achieves record-high earnings in 2024, driven by growth of non-interest income
KakaoBank's headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
KakaoBank recorded an operating profit of 606.9 billion won ($418 million) and a net income of 440.1 billion won last year, driven by growth in non-interest income, fees and platform businesses. This marks an all-time high, representing year-over-year increases of 26.8 percent and 24 percent, respectively, the company said Wednesday.
For the fourth quarter alone, the country’s largest internet-only bank reported an operating profit of 115 billion won and a net income of 84.5 billion won.
The bank attributed the results to balanced growth across all sectors, including deposits and loans as well as fee and platform revenue, driven by increased customer inflow and expanded traffic.
In particular, non-interest income, excluding loan interest revenue, totaled 889.1 billion won, marking a 25.6 percent increase from the previous year. This accounted for 30 percent of the bank’s total operating revenue.
The increase in non-interest income was attributed to the growth of its loan comparison and investment services. On the back of these two segments, the firm’s fee and platform revenue reached 301.7 billion won last year.
In the fourth quarter alone, the amount of loans executed through 60 partner financial institutions after being compared on the bank’s app reached 1.11 trillion won, more than six times the amount recorded a year earlier.
In the asset management sector, the company generated 530.7 billion won, further driving the growth of non-interest income.
The bank, meanwhile, minimized the increase in mortgages by managing household lending in line with the policy direction of financial authorities.
In the fourth quarter, household loan balances grew by only 84 billion won, compared to the previous quarter, a similar level to the 80 billion won increase in the third quarter. This marks a significant decline from the second quarter, when household loan balances surged by 953 billion won from the first quarter.
“Despite our stable household loan management, we have continued inclusive financing efforts to enhance financial accessibility for mid-to-low credit borrowers,” a KakaoBank official said.
As of last year, the average balance of mid-to-low credit loans stood at approximately 4.9 trillion won, accounting for 32.4 percent of total loans.
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The bank’s customer base is growing rapidly as well. As of December, it had 24.88 million customers, with 2.04 million new customers joining in 2024.
Monthly active users reached 18.9 million, while weekly active users hit 13.6 million, marking the highest traffic levels in the bank’s history.
The company set the dividend per share for the 2024 fiscal year at 360 won. The total dividend payout has doubled from the previous year to 171.5 billion won, bringing the total shareholder return ratio to 39 percent.
This year, the firm plans to launch a conversational AI financial calculator, a private label credit card for business owners and a mobile ID.