KakaoBank Corp. (323410)

**Business Overview** KakaoBank, established in 2016, is a leading internet-only bank in Korea, providing mobile app-based banking and platform services. Its main business areas consist of banking operations such as deposits, loans, and international remittances, as well as financial platform businesses including stock account opening, affiliated credit cards, loan comparison, and advertising. As of 2025, revenue is comprised of approximately 65% interest income and 35% non-interest income, with non-interest income consisting of fees, platform services, and investment financial assets. As of the end of 2025, it maintains a leading position in the domestic internet-only bank market, having secured 26.7 million customers and 20 million monthly active users (MAU). Initially centered on customers in their 20s and 30s, its customer base has now expanded across all age groups, with the proportion of customers aged 40 and above exceeding 50%. Notably, the 'Group Account' is a key product, recording a balance of 11.6 trillion KRW as of the end of Q1 2026, accounting for 16.7% of total deposit balances. **Core Competencies** KakaoBank possesses strong mobile platform competitiveness, including mobile-optimized intuitive user experience (UX/UI) and easy remittances through KakaoTalk integration. It also has the strength of efficiently securing low-cost deposits through innovative product planning capabilities with products like 'Group Account', '26-Week Savings', and 'Our Children's Account'. It provides rapid loan assessments with an AI-based credit evaluation system, and its operational efficiency is high due to the utilization of technology, with conversational AI chatbots handling 70% of all consultations. Based on these strengths, as of the end of 2025, it has secured 26.7 million customers and 20 million monthly active users (MAU), establishing a solid market position in the domestic internet-only bank market. **Performance Analysis** KakaoBank achieved record-high performance in 2025, recording annual revenue of 3.0863 trillion KRW, operating income of 649.4 billion KRW, and net income of 480.3 billion KRW. This represents a 7.0% increase in operating income and a 9.1% increase in net income compared to the previous year. Notably, non-interest income increased by 22.4% year-over-year to 1.0886 trillion KRW, surpassing 1 trillion KRW for the first time on an annual basis and accounting for over 35% of total operating revenue. Examining recent quarterly performance, Q1 2025 saw revenue of 784.6 billion KRW and operating income of 183.0 billion KRW. However, after a temporary decline with Q2 revenue of -6.5 billion KRW and operating income of -12.9 billion KRW, and Q3 revenue of -13.4 billion KRW and operating income of -19.0 billion KRW, performance significantly recovered in Q4 with revenue of 2.3216 trillion KRW and operating income of 498.3 billion KRW, driving the annual results. **Financial Soundness** Regarding KakaoBank's financial soundness, the debt-to-equity ratio has shown a continuous upward trend, reaching 790.66% in 2023, 860.31% in 2024, and 1032.02% in 2025. No data is provided for ROE, which is '-' for 2023, 2024, and 2025. Similarly, no data is provided for the current ratio, which is '-' for 2023, 2024, and 2025. **Outlook** KakaoBank aims to evolve into an 'AI-native bank' amidst intensifying competition in the domestic internet-only bank market and the trend of AI technology. It plans to expand into a comprehensive financial platform encompassing payments, investments, and asset management, and to enhance AI services such as AI search and AI financial calculators to increase customer inflow and engagement. Furthermore, it plans to diversify revenue streams and strengthen platform competitiveness through global expansion, including equity investment in Indonesia's Superbank and the promotion of a virtual bank establishment in Thailand. In the mid-to-long term, it aims to achieve 30 million customers and 100 trillion KRW in total assets by 2027, and to enhance corporate value by achieving a Return on Equity (ROE) of 15% and a non-interest income ratio of 40% by 2030.