KakaoBank ranks highest in productivity

The entrance of KakaoBank's headquarters located in Pangyo, Gyeonggi Province / Newsis

By Anna J. Park

KakaoBank turns out to have achieved the highest rate of productivity among local commercial banks last year.

According to the banking industry Friday, the internet-only bank's productivity per employee in 2021 stood at 349 million won ($286,000), which is a 63-percent increase from the previous year.

The per-person productivity is much higher than the average of the country's four major banks, which stood at 265 million won in 2021. It was a 16.7 percent year-on-year increase, but lagged far behind the performance of its mobile-based competitor.

Among the four major local lenders, Hana Bank ranked the highest with a per-person productivity of 315 million won, followed by Shinhan at 271 million won, KB Kookmin at 245 million won and Woori at 229 million won.

KakaoBank also exceeded its banking peers in Human Capital Return on Investment (HCROI), an indicator showing staff efficiency. The mobile-based bank's HCROI stood at 2.8 last year, which surpassed 2.5, the average of four major banks.

The internet-only bank's HCROI started off at 1.2 back in 2019, but increased steadily to 2.3 in 2020 and 2.8 last year. However, the four major lenders' HCROI remained virtually stagnant at 2.4 in 2019, 2.3 in 2020 and 2.5 in 2021.

KakaoBank's increased efficiency and productivity is impressive, given that the bank's total number of workers increased by 13 percent to 1,031 last year. The enhanced efficiency and productivity was possible due to its increased annual operating profit of 256.9 billion won, which is up 110 percent year-on-year.