KakaoBank has attracted more than 20,000 foreign residents to its new banking service within a month of its October launch, highlighting growing demand for convenient, branch-free financial services among South Korea's expanding foreign population.
The digital lender said Thursday that customers from 124 nationalities had opened accounts, averaging roughly one new account every two minutes.
The service allows foreign residents aged 19 and older to open checking accounts, obtain debit cards and make overseas remittances through the KakaoBank app without visiting a branch.
Opening an account takes about five minutes, with the bank using the government's public MyData service to retrieve personal information and allowing customers to submit required documents digitally.
International students accounted for the largest share of new customers at 37.8 percent, followed by workers at 26.3 percent and marriage migrants at 12.7 percent. Women represented 52 percent of account holders.
By nationality, Myanmar led with 30.3 percent of sign-ups, followed by China at 18 percent and Vietnam at 16.6 percent.
Demand has also extended to related financial products. More than 10,000 Friends debit cards have been issued, while customers have opened over 1,000 Safe Box accounts, which pay interest on deposited funds.
KakaoBank's AI-powered multilingual translation service for foreign residents attracted 21,000 users, with English accounting for 61.3 percent of usage, followed by Vietnamese and Chinese.
The bank currently offers fee-free transfers and ATM withdrawals, debit cards and overseas remittances. It plans to expand the service next year with savings and time deposit products, open banking and loan comparison services.
"Foreign residents have responded positively to the ability to open an account in about five minutes without visiting a branch and access everyday financial services," a KakaoBank official said.
"We will continue to expand our offerings so they can access the financial services they need in Korea through a single app."
jyoungseon8@heraldcorp.com
