(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jul. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Kakao Bank, South Korea’s second Internet-only bank, said Friday it attracted over 300,000 accounts during the bank’s first day of operations, far outpacing the growth of its competitor and traditional banks.
Kakao Bank, led by Kakao Corp., operator of Korea’s dominant messaging app KakaoTalk, started operations Thursday, in the latest move by the government to reinvigorate the nation’s banking sector suffering from weaker growth.
As of 8:00 a.m. Friday, a total of 300,500 accounts had been opened at Kakao Bank, according to the lender.
Kakao Bank also attracted deposits worth 74 billion won (US$66.3 million) and made loans worth 50 billion won.
It took 24 days for K-Bank, which began operations in April as the nation’s first Internet-only bank, to attract 240,000 accounts.
Last year, traditional banks opened about 155,000 accounts via the Internet or smartphones.
With a paid-in capitalization of 300 billion won, Korea Investment Holdings Co. and Kakao hold a 58 percent and 10 percent stake in Kakao Bank, respectively.
Kakao’s consortium also includes Kookmin Bank, eBay Inc. and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd.
(Yonhap)
