KakaoBank declared it will pursue “inorganic” growth, strengthening competitiveness through external drivers such as equity investments and mergers and acquisitions. It aims to reinforce its medium- to long-term growth foundation through M&A and other deals.

Kwon Tae-hoon (권태훈), KakaoBank's chief financial officer, said on Feb. 4 in a conference call on its 2025 operating results, “KakaoBank will continue to seek solid growth in core competitiveness based on traffic and engagement. It will strengthen its monetisation base, including platform influence, and realise profit growth by expanding asset management.”

He added, “We are currently actively pursuing M&A, with payments and capital companies as priority targets.” He said capital firms are “positive” because they allow entry into new markets that internet banks could not access.

He explained, “Profitability has declined after going through a period of rising interest rates, but considering the ROE level in boom times, we judge the financial contribution would also be high.”

Accordingly, KakaoBank plans to strengthen the competitiveness of its existing business in the medium to long term and prepare an M&A deal within the year to enter new businesses.

KakaoBank cited results from existing platform-based growth as the background to this expansion strategy. It said deposits and its non-interest income structure have entered a stabilisation stage on the back of a growing customer base and high activity, making a strategic shift needed to broaden business areas through external growth drivers.

In its disclosure on this operating results announcement, KakaoBank said it also achieved balanced growth across all business areas last year based on steady customer inflows and expanding traffic.

It continued growth by diversifying its portfolio across deposits, loans, fees and platform, and fund management, and by converting strong customer activity into non-interest income.

At end-2025, outstanding loans stood at 46.9 trillion won, growing mainly through policy financial products for real demand, financial products for low-income borrowers and loans to sole proprietors.

Deposits stood at 68.3 trillion won, rising by more than 13.3 trillion won from the end of the previous year on balanced growth in demand deposits and savings deposits. Net users and balances of its group account reached 12.5 million people and 10.7 trillion won, posting steady quarterly growth. Group accounts accounted for 27.4 percent of total demand deposits.

KakaoBank had 26.7 million customers at end-2025, after 1.82 million new customers joined last year. KakaoBank’s customer ratio rose across all age groups versus the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s age-based population data. The share in the 50s rose the most, with 60 percent of people in their 50s using KakaoBank. The share in the 40s also increased to 78 percent.

Customer activity also hit a record high in traffic. Monthly active users in the fourth quarter were 20 million, up by more than 1 million in a year. Weekly active users were 14.7 million.

It said steadily rolling out various AI-based services such as AI search, an AI financial calculator and AI transfers, as well as financial and lifestyle services customers need, contributed to strengthening its customer base.

In particular, it said 28 percent of new customers in the fourth quarter were users of the “Woori Ai Account,” introduced in September last year. It said 10 percent of South Korea’s population aged 0 used the Woori Ai Account within four months of launch.

KakaoBank said it will launch convenient services for new customers this year, including a foreign currency account and services for foreigners, to continue deposit growth. It aims to secure 30 million customers by 2027 and reach total deposits of 90 trillion won.

It also said it plans this year to launch a foreign currency account and services for foreign customers, and to push for a new investment tab and platform upgrades.

KakaoBank said, “Despite uncertainty and a highly volatile external environment last year, KakaoBank achieved continued growth through its differentiated competitiveness.” It added, “This year, too, we will practise inclusive finance based on stable growth and introduce innovative financial services for customers, thereby taking a leap into a comprehensive financial platform.”