Average Annual Salary of 136 Million KRW Last Year
Higher Than KB Kookmin and Woori Bank
Performance Bonuses Increased by 150% from Previous Year
"Recruiting Top Industry Experts for Technology Internalization"
Last year, employees of Toss Bank were found to receive higher average salaries than those at major commercial banks. This is attributed to the recruitment of industry experts to internalize IT capabilities. The average salary of outside directors was also higher than that of internet banks such as Kakao Bank and K Bank.
According to the annual reports on governance and compensation systems of each company on the 12th, among the three internet banks (Kakao Bank, K Bank, Toss Bank), Toss Bank had the highest average employee compensation last year at 136 million KRW. Kakao Bank's was 103 million KRW, and K Bank's was 89 million KRW. Toss Bank's average compensation increased by 17 million KRW from 119 million KRW in 2022. This level is higher than that of major commercial banks. KB Kookmin Bank's average employee compensation last year was 118 million KRW, and Woori Bank's was 112 million KRW.
Toss Bank's total compensation also rose from 46.257 billion KRW to 70.915 billion KRW, with the number of employees increasing from 388 to 520. In contrast, Kakao Bank (146 million KRW) and K Bank (96 million KRW) saw their average compensation decrease by 43 million KRW and 7 million KRW respectively compared to 2022. Kakao Bank's total compensation also decreased due to reduced gains from stock option exercises, and the increase in employees lowered the average compensation. K Bank saw increases in both total compensation and number of employees.
Toss Bank was the only one among the three internet banks to see an increase in average performance-based compensation per employee. It rose approximately 150% from 8.67 million KRW in 2022 to 21.65 million KRW last year. Kakao Bank's performance-based compensation dropped about 59%, from 18.48 million KRW to 7.6 million KRW. K Bank's decreased from 28.02 million KRW to 22.95 million KRW. KB Kookmin Bank recorded 22.53 million KRW, and Woori Bank recorded 28.52 million KRW.
Looking at Toss Bank's performance-based compensation by employee category, the total for registered executives increased from 160 million KRW to 258 million KRW, and for non-registered executives from 108 million KRW to 181 million KRW. For staff, it rose more than threefold from 3.097 billion KRW to 10.818 billion KRW. Overall, the average performance-based compensation for executives increased from 50.14 million KRW in 2022 to 61.22 million KRW last year. Their base salaries also rose from 244.29 million KRW to 272.56 million KRW.
Regarding the annual salary of outside directors (limited to those who served throughout 2023, including other allowances), Toss Bank's average salary per director was 73 million KRW. This is also higher than Kakao Bank's 63 million KRW and K Bank's 56 million KRW.
Toss Bank explained that since it started later than other internet banks, it had to hire many experienced professionals to fill positions, which naturally led to higher average employee salaries. They also stated that this is part of efforts to attract top industry experts to internalize fintech (finance + technology) and IT capabilities rather than outsourcing them. The increase in performance bonuses was due to achieving quarterly profits.
Toss Bank was launched in October 2021, later than Kakao Bank and K Bank (which launched in 2017). In July last year, it achieved its first monthly profit just 21 months after launch. Riding on this momentum, it recorded a net profit of 8.6 billion KRW in the third quarter, marking its first quarterly profit.
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