[Digital Today reporter Ji-young Lee (이지영)] South Korea’s three internet-only banks — Kakao Bank, K Bank and Toss Bank — have all lifted the share of loans to mid-to-low credit borrowers to at least 30 percent, keeping up competition in inclusive finance. As of the fourth quarter of 2025, each bank’s share of outstanding mid-to-low credit loans was above the supervisory guidance level of 30 percent.

Kakao Bank said on Thursday that as of the fourth quarter of 2025, mid-to-low credit loans accounted for 32.1 percent of its outstanding balance and 35.7 percent of new lending.

Over the past year, it supplied 2.13 trillion won of in-house credit-based mid-to-low credit loans to individuals and individual business owners, and cumulative supply since its launch in 2017 has exceeded 15 trillion won.

It said 55 percent of customers who took out mid-credit loans saw their credit scores rise within a month, with an average increase of 46 points. It said 19 percent moved into the high-credit category. The fourth-quarter delinquency rate is being kept at 0.51 percent.

K Bank said its average outstanding balance share of credit loans to mid-to-low credit borrowers was 32.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, while the share based on the average outstanding balance of new lending was 34.5 percent.

Since its launch in 2017, cumulative supply of credit loans to mid-to-low credit borrowers totals 8.3 trillion won.

In policy products, it launched a Hae-sal Loan special case and offered an annual interest rate of 12.5 percent, while an annual 9.9 percent applies to socially vulnerable groups.

Toss Bank posted a mid-to-low credit loan share of 34.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, based on a three-month average outstanding balance. Its share of new lending was 48.8 percent, the highest among the three.

Total mid-to-low credit loans supplied since its launch through the fourth quarter of 2025 amount to 9.6 trillion won.

Mid-to-low credit borrowers accounted for 66.3 percent of its loans to individual business owners, based on end-of-quarter outstanding balances. Cumulative supply of Hae-sal Loan was tallied at 1.39 trillion won.