Kakao Bank outpaces rival by miles in new accounts

Kakao Bank, Korea’s second Internet-only bank, said Friday it attracted about 470,000 accounts during the bank’s first 32 hours of operation, far outpacing the growth of its competitor and traditional banks.

Kakao Bank, led by Kakao, 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 3:00 p.m. Friday, Kakao Bank also attracted deposits worth 135 billion won ($120.4 million) and made loans worth 92 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. YONHAP