KakaoBank (323410.KS) is pursuing a new leap forward with artificial intelligence (AI) and global expansion as its twin pillars. The company aims to reach 30 million users and 90 trillion won ($68 billion) in total deposits by next year through its transition into an "AI Native Bank" and aggressive overseas expansion. Building on its leading user base and deposit competitiveness among internet-only banks, KakaoBank has moved beyond the traditional banking model reliant on lending income and entered an era of 1 trillion won in annual non-interest income.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on Tuesday, KakaoBank posted 2025 annual operating profit of 649.4 billion won and net profit of 480.3 billion won, up 7.0% and 9.1% from a year earlier, respectively. Non-interest income showed steep growth amid declining loan interest income. Last year's non-interest income rose 22.4% from the previous year to 1.09 trillion won, surpassing 1 trillion won for the first time. Non-interest income accounted for 35% of total revenue of 3.09 trillion won last year, marking a qualitative improvement in the revenue structure.
Fees and platform revenue reached 310.5 billion won, with non-interest income exceeding 35% of total revenue. This indicates that KakaoBank has successfully established a business model as a tech company that does not rely solely on net interest margin (NIM).
The strong performance was driven by a record-high user base. KakaoBank's subscribers reached 26.7 million as of the end of last year. Monthly active users (MAU), defined as those using KakaoBank at least once a month, surpassed 20 million. Backed by this solid user base, deposit balances at the end of last year rose 13.3 trillion won from a year earlier to 68.3 trillion won. Its flagship service, the group account (Moim Tongjang), has established itself as a core pillar of demand deposits with 12.5 million net users and a balance of 10.7 trillion won.
In the lending segment, growth was led by policy and low-income financial products for actual borrowers, along with loans for sole proprietors. As of the end of last year, KakaoBank's loan balance stood at 46.9 trillion won. Sole proprietor loans rose by a net 1.2 trillion won over the year, surpassing 3 trillion won in balance.
AI capabilities built on the Kakao ecosystem are another strength. KakaoBank plans to unveil hyper-personalized AI services by combining proprietary app usage data from its 27 million subscribers with a finance-specialized large language model (LLM). AI technology has already been applied to transfers and group accounts. The recently launched "Investment Tab" incorporates an AI-based investment agent, and in the third quarter of this year, the bank plans to launch "Payment Home," which analyzes individual payment data to provide customized financial guidance. Diversification of platform business and advertising revenue is expected to help the bank achieve a higher return on equity (ROE) than conventional commercial banks and justify a valuation premium.
Global expansion is also producing tangible results. Superbank, KakaoBank's first overseas investment in Indonesia, has risen to the top in market capitalization among local digital banks. In Thailand, the joint venture "BankX" is preparing to launch virtual banking operations in the first half of next year. Recently, KakaoBank signed a business agreement with MCS Group, Mongolia's largest conglomerate, to pursue strategic equity investment in MBank, Mongolia's only digital bank, and jointly develop an alternative credit scoring model, establishing a bridgehead into the Central Asian market.
KakaoBank is also strengthening its payments business. The bank plans to launch customized-benefit check cards and private label credit cards (PLCC) in the second half of this year. "We will provide everyone with an optimized financial assistant through AI technology and expand our stage globally to write a new history of financial innovation," KakaoBank CEO Yun Ho-young said.
