KakaoBank said it is shifting to an "AI native bank". It plans to use artificial intelligence and global expansion as twin pillars to broaden its business from a deposit-focused structure into payments, investments and pensions. It also aims to use AI-based financial services to reduce the complexity of its super app. It said it also wants to lead the distribution and issuance of stablecoins.

KakaoBank CEO Yoon Ho-young (윤호영) said at a press briefing on Tuesday that the bank "started by solving customer inconveniences" and will now expand beyond sending and saving money to finance that helps customers spend and grow their money better. He stressed that it will provide an AI financial assistant optimised for everyone and expand into global markets to write a new chapter in financial innovation.

KakaoBank currently has 27,000,000 customers and about 70 trillion won in deposits, Yoon said. He said it has grown into an "everyone's bank" used by half of South Korea's population. He added that thinking about how to make customers' entrusted assets more valuable is the starting point for expanding into payments and investments.

Its business structure will also expand in earnest. KakaoBank will add an "investment tab" in the second quarter and a "payments home" in the third quarter to strengthen wealth management functions.

In payments, it also signalled the launch of new card products in the second half. Its strategy is to upgrade payment experiences and expand customer touchpoints through a customised-benefits debit card, cards for teenagers and foreigners, and a second PLCC product.

AI is at the heart of the strategy. Yoon said that as financial apps add more functions, an "expansion paradox" is emerging in which customers find it harder to locate the functions they need. He said the goal is to build a financial assistant in which AI finds problems first and solves them.

KakaoBank plans to combine app-based data from its 27,000,000 customers with a finance-specialised large language model to deliver hyper-personalised services. In payments home, it will provide tailored financial guidance based on spending data. In investments, it will strengthen AI-based investment recommendation functions.

It will also put a conversational interface front and centre. Yoon said conversation is the most intuitive way and that it will shift to a structure where AI identifies customer needs and suggests necessary financial functions when requested. KakaoBank currently handles about 70 percent of all customer consultations through its conversational UI and chatbot.

◆KakaoBank declares Mongolia entry; stablecoins at centre of global push

Its global strategy has also taken shape. KakaoBank is spreading its digital banking model in overseas markets based on cooperation with Indonesia's digital bank Superbank and Thailand's virtual bank BankX. It is also accelerating global expansion by formalising plans to enter Mongolia.

Yoon said the Mongolia entry will be a starting point for expanding KakaoBank's inclusive finance capabilities globally. He said it will apply a credit scoring system (CSS) using non-financial data locally to improve financial accessibility.

KakaoBank is also pursuing the build-out of global financial infrastructure. Through issuance and distribution of a won-based stablecoin, it aims to lower costs for overseas remittances and payments. It said it is reviewing a structure that enables real-time global asset transfers.

Yoon said the financial industry has changed alongside technological development and that only companies that make customers' lives easier and more convenient through technology will remain competitive. He added that as boundaries between industries fade, new technologies such as stablecoins and tokenised securities (STO) will change the financial environment.

Yoon also laid out an ambition to take charge of both distribution and issuance of stablecoins to become a "global connector". He said that once relevant laws and systems are put in place, it will seek to secure licences to issue stablecoins and focus on making them convenient to use in everyday life at the distribution stage. He stressed that it will work with consortium partners to create new market opportunities.

Still, issuing stablecoins will require legal and regulatory frameworks to be put in place, meaning it will likely take time before it is commercialised.

KakaoBank also presented reducing complexity in retirement pensions and investments as a key part of its AI strategy. Yoon said pensions are complex and come in many types, making them hard to understand. He said the core value of AI finance is cutting the time customers spend understanding and choosing such products and providing the necessary information with a single request. He said it will continue to expand such services.

KakaoBank plans to restructure its business around an AI-based platform shift and global expansion, and strengthen growth drivers centred on payments and investments. It also plans, if needed, to speed up expansion through external cooperation and mergers and acquisitions.

Yoon said KakaoBank will accelerate innovation beyond remittances and deposits into payments and investments, and will actively pursue growth strategies, including mergers and acquisitions if needed. He said it will set a new standard for the future of finance based on AI and global expansion.