AI-based fintech company Habit Factory said on Wednesday that cumulative loans through its home mortgage service Loaning.ai reached 256.1 billion won, four years after setting up a U.S. unit. New lending in December totalled 22.2 billion won, up 234.9 percent from the same month a year earlier.

Applying an exchange rate of 1,452 won per dollar, it executed about 116.5 billion won in loans last year. The average interest rate on Loaning.ai in 2025 was 6.784 percent, and the interest cost customers must pay on a 30-year mortgage is about 153.9 billion won. Applying the average rate at U.S. commercial banks of 7.284 percent would put the figure at about 167.7 billion won, cutting total interest costs by about 13.8 billion won.

Habit Factory said its cost-efficiency strategy to offer lower rates than local banks translated into results. It reduced reliance on a brokerage-focused sales structure and built a model based on direct channels. It automated processes across operations to cut fixed costs and raise productivity.

Co-CEO Dong-ik Lee (이동익) said, "We are proving that we are continuing meaningful growth as a digital mortgage platform that leverages our technology." He added, "To maintain our core competitiveness, our goal is to cut the cost per loan by about 40 percent from current levels and lower rates further."