A display of KakaoBank's mortgage loan application page with commercial bank ATMs in the background, Jan. 22 / Newsis

It has been almost seven years since internet-only banks began operations in Korea. Since then, the three internet-only banks have expanded their presence by leveraging distinguished services and competitive interest rates, surpassing a total of 40 million customers.

According to industry sources, the number of KakaoBank's customers has surpassed 23 million as of Jan. 21. Since starting customer services in July 2017, KakaoBank has seen an average of around 10,000 new sign-ups per day.

Kbank's customer base also reached 9.53 million as of 2023. Having commenced operations in April 2017, it saw a consistent increase in its customer base, growing from 2.19 million at the end of 2020 to more than 9 million.

Similarly, Toss Bank has exceeded 9 million customers as of Jan. 11.

The series of financial products released by internet-only banks seems to be resonating with customers.

For instance, Toss Bank's recent introduction of a commission-free foreign exchange service, eliminating fees for currency transactions, has attracted a significant number of customers.

KakaoBank has also been offering innovative products like group accounts, which can be owned communally by several members. It began selling six mutual fund products this year as well, for the first time for internet-only bank.

Kbank emphasized the convenience of managing deposits and withdrawals along with attractive interest rate benefits, offering up to 3 percent annual interest on balances of up to 3 million won ($2,242).

In the loan sector, they are leveraging low interest rates as a key selling point.

With their current growth momentum, Kbank is moving forward with plans to relaunch its initial public offering (IPO), while Toss Bank is strategizing to achieve an annual return to profitability and aims to sustain its growth. KakaoBank also seeks to expand their market presence.

Yet, catering to mid-to-low credit consumers remains an unresolved task. In the previous year, only KakaoBank met its target for lending to this segment. For the current year, all three banks have set a goal of maintaining at least 30 percent of their loan portfolio for mid-to-low credit borrowers. Both stable earnings and effective risk management are highlighted as crucial to meet these aims and maintain financial health.