K Bank's Net Profit of 128.1 Billion KRW Last Year... Record High Performance

900% Increase Compared to the Previous Year

K Bank recorded a net profit of 128.1 billion KRW last year, achieving its highest-ever performance. This represents a 901% increase compared to the previous year (12.8 billion KRW). K Bank explained that this figure also surpassed the previous record set in 2022 (83.6 billion KRW).

K Bank stated that the sharp increase in customers was the key driver behind the record profit. Last year, 3.21 million new customers joined, bringing the total number of customers to 12.74 million. This is the largest increase since its launch, excluding 2021 when customers surged due to the boom in virtual assets.

The launch of various products and services also contributed to customer acquisition. For example, Donnamu Kiugi, launched in March last year, surpassed 1.8 million customers. The deposit and withdrawal rewards introduced in the third quarter and the AI Quiz Challenge launched in the fourth quarter also gained significant popularity.

As the number of customers grew, deposits also showed steep growth. As of the end of last year, the deposit scale reached 28.57 trillion KRW, a 49.8% increase compared to 19.07 trillion KRW at the end of 2023. K Bank explained that demand deposits led overall deposit growth, supported by interest rate hikes and limit removals for high-value Plus Box deposit customers, the popularity of deposit and withdrawal rewards linked to the Living Account and Donnamu Kiugi, and the launch of MY Check Card/ONE Check Card equipped with the K-Pass function. The proportion of demand deposits in K Bank’s household deposits increased from 47.1% at the end of 2023 to 59.5% at the end of last year.

Loans also grew steadily. The loan balance at the end of last year was 16.27 trillion KRW, a 17.6% increase from 13.84 trillion KRW at the end of 2023. The increase in apartment mortgage loan balances due to the introduction of the loan transfer system and the launch of the banking sector’s first non-face-to-face real estate mortgage loan for individual business owners (Sajangnim Real Estate Mortgage Loan) led to growth mainly in secured loans. Accordingly, the proportion of secured and guaranteed loans increased from 39.0% at the end of 2023 to 53.1% at the end of last year.

Interest income was 481.5 billion KRW, up 6.9% from 450.4 billion KRW in the same period last year. Non-interest income was 61.3 billion KRW, an 81.4% increase from 33.8 billion KRW in the previous year.

K Bank also focused on practicing win-win finance last year. The total amount of credit loans supplied to low- and medium-credit customers was 1.1658 trillion KRW. The annual average proportion of low- and medium-credit loans was 34.1%, exceeding the target of 30%, and notably, the average proportion in the fourth quarter last year was 35.3%, the highest among internet banks.

Asset quality also improved. K Bank’s delinquency rate decreased from 0.96% at the end of 2023 to 0.90% at the end of last year, and the ratio of non-performing loans stabilized from 0.86% to 0.82% during the same period.

K Bank plans to continue its growth this year by expanding its customer base to 15 million and capturing the corporate loan market based on IT leadership, while actively engaging in win-win finance practices and social contribution activities.

Choi Woo-hyung, CEO of K Bank, said, “We were able to achieve the highest-ever performance last year through customer growth and portfolio improvement by enhancing product and service competitiveness, as well as strengthening asset quality. This year, we plan to further strengthen the foundation for growth through continuous profit realization and asset quality management.”