Kbank, launched as Korea's first internet-only lender in 2017, posted a record net income of 128.1 billion won ($87.84 million) last year, the company announced Tuesday.
It said the 2024 net income exceeded the previous record of 83.6 billion won set in 2022, and also grew more than 10-fold from 12.8 billion won in 2023.
The company attributed its business milestone to an increase in new clients over the years.
Headquarters of internet-only lender Kbank in central Seoul / Courtesy of Kbank
In particular, the number grew by 321,000 in 2024, marking the fastest pace of growth since 2021.
The company explained that the increase helped the company grow to more than 10 million customers.
“We were able to serve more clients after improving business portfolios, enhancing financial soundness and bolstering our competitiveness in the market,” Kbank said.
“We’ll be more committed to generating profits consistently and sustaining robust financial soundness to lay the groundwork for accelerated growth.”
As of 2024, Kbank had 12.74 million customers whose deposits amounted to 28.57 trillion won. The amount was up 49.8 percent from 2023.
Over the same period, the outstanding balance in credit loans rose 17.6 percent to 16.27 trillion won.
As a result, the bank’s interest income jumped 6.9 percent to 450.4 billion won in the 2023-24 period.
The company said it was committed to lending money to those who had lower credit ratings and had trouble taking out loans from major offline banks.
The outstanding balance in credit loans, which were offered to customers with low and moderate ratings, totaled 1.16 trillion won.
The amount accounted for 34.1 percent of the bank’s aggregate outstanding balance in credit loans for all customers, surpassing the firm’s goal of 30 percent.
An affiliate of telecom giant KT, Kbank has been mobilizing KT’s artificial intelligence technology to enhance non face-to-face banking services.
Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.