Kbank achieves 10mn customer milestone in 7 years

[Photo by MK DB]

South Korea’s internet-only bank Kbank announced Monday that it achieved the 10 million customer milestone in just seven years since its inception.

The number of Kbank customers increased from 7.17 million at the end of 2021 to 8.2 million at the end of 2022 and 9.53 million at the end of 2023. The figure hit the 10 million mark on Monday.

The average number of new customers per day has tripled in 2024 from the previous year.

Kbank’s deposit balance stood at 21 trillion won ($15.76 billion) and its loan balance at 15 trillion won this year.

When analyzing the customers by age, Kbank noted that there is a diverse distribution among the young, middle-aged, and elderly population.

One out of every three individuals in their 20s and 40s in Korea is a user of Kbank, and one out of five among those in their 50s is a customer, the bank said.

Among the new customers who have joined Kbank since 2023, around 30 percent were aged 60 and above or 10 and below, indicating a recent increase in very young and elderly customers.

The milestone is attributed to the bank’s favorable interest rates.

Kbank became the first in the country to introduce non-face-to-face apartment mortgage loans in August 2020, which led to about 12,000 customers having reduced their interest burden by a total of 16.6 billion won.

The average annual interest savings per person amounted to 1.4 million won, according to the bank.

Lifestyle-oriented services also played a role.

The bank’s Life Bankbook, a frequent deposit and withdrawal account introduced in August 2023, provided 5 billion won in interest benefits to one million customers within half a year of its launch.

The Bankbook applies a 3 percent annual interest rate on balances up to 3 million won. Its check cards, linked to frequent withdrawal and deposit accounts, were also issued in a total of 2 million units, offering various cashback benefits.

The total cashback amount received by Kbank customers was approximately 52.3 billion won.

Kbank is currently pursuing an initial public offering (IPO).

It recently picked NH Investment & Securities Co., KB Securities Co., and Bank of America (BoA) as preferred bidders to be its IPO underwriters.

The bank plans to file for preliminary listing review with the Korea Exchange in the first half of 2024.