Kakao Pay Q3 Operating Loss of 7.5 Billion KRW... 'Timef' Loss of 31.2 Billion KRW

Kakao Pay announced on the 5th that its consolidated operating loss for the third quarter was 7.5 billion KRW, a decrease in the deficit compared to 9.5 billion KRW in the same period last year.

During the same period, sales increased by 17.2% to 186.2 billion KRW, but a net loss of 27.5 billion KRW was recorded, widening the deficit. The company explained that a one-time loss of 31.2 billion KRW was reflected due to proactive refund measures following the unsettled payment chaos involving Tmon and Wemakeprice (Timep).

The transaction amount for the third quarter of this year was 42.2 trillion KRW, up 17% from the previous year. Payment and financial service transaction amounts increased by 19% and 17%, respectively. In particular, offline payments surged by 131%, driven by convenience store transactions, tax and utility bill payments, and overseas payments. For remittance services, user-friendly remittance envelopes promoted through collaborations with professional sports teams and popular girl groups led to a 16% increase compared to the same period last year.

Kakao Pay stated that user and merchant metrics are also steadily growing. Monthly active users (MAU) reached 23.96 million, a 5% increase from the same period last year, and the number of transactions per user across all services remained steady at 99, similar to the previous quarter. In the third quarter of this year, Kakao Pay’s domestic merchants numbered 1.1 million, a 15% increase from the same period last year.

A Kakao Pay official said, "While maintaining stable business performance in payment and loan services, we will gradually improve the profit and loss structure through portfolio and cost efficiency, as well as steady sales growth of financial subsidiaries."