This photo, provided by K-Bank on April 1, 2021, shows its office in central Seoul.
SEOUL, July 1 (Korea Bizwire) — K-Bank, South Korea’s first internet-only bank, said Thursday its customers and deposits grew sharply in the second quarter of the year amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The number of customers stood at 6.19 million as of the end of June, 2.28 million more than three months earlier, the lender said, which is led by telecom giant KT Corp.
The online lender’s outstanding loans totaled 5.09 trillion won (US$4.5 billion), up 1.29 trillion won from the first quarter, which marks the largest quarterly increase.
Outstanding customer deposits came to 11.29 trillion won as of end-June, up 2.57 trillion won from the end of March
Industry sources said K-Bank’s stellar second-quarter growth resulted from its competitive deposit and lending rates, as well as its contact-free convenience.
K-Bank is controlled by a consortium of telecom giant KT Corp., Woori Bank and 19 other companies.
In 2017, South Korea permitted two internet-only banks — K-Bank and Kakao Bank — to offer services around the clock in an effort to inject more competition into the banking sector.
(Yonhap)
