[비즈한국] Toss Bank has released its financial results for the first half of 2025, demonstrating improved profitability by achieving a surplus for the eighth consecutive quarter. Among the three internet-only banks (KakaoBank323410, K-Bank, and Toss Bank), Toss Bank was the only one to record a Net Interest Margin (NIM) exceeding 2%. This stands in contrast to the declining interest income seen at KakaoBank and K-Bank. Meanwhile, all three internet-only banks are competing to attract customers to their platforms by launching various lifestyle services and new products.
Toss Bank's net profit for the first half of 2025 was 40.4 billion KRW, an increase of 65.0% compared to the same period last year (24.5 billion KRW). This marks eight consecutive quarters of profit. Specifically, both interest income and asset management earnings increased. Net interest income reached 416.9 billion KRW, a 13.8% increase from the same period last year (366.3 billion KRW), while asset management earnings grew by 11.2% to 225.8 billion KRW, bolstered by organizational strengthening.
The rise in Net Interest Margin (NIM) is particularly notable. NIM is an indicator of a financial institution's interest profitability; while a higher NIM suggests better profitability, it can also imply an aggressive focus on "interest-based business." Toss Bank’s NIM for the first half was 2.57%, up from the first half of last year (2.47%). This is a high figure not only among internet-only banks but also when compared to major commercial banks. KakaoBank's NIM for the first half stood at 1.92%, while K-Bank's was only 1.36%, both declining from their previous year's levels of 2.17% and 2.26%, respectively. In 2024, the average NIM for the five major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup) was 1.63%.
In terms of non-interest income, net fee and commission income remained in the red at -28.5 billion KRW. This is due to fee expenses rising from 83.8 billion KRW in the first half of last year to 104.8 billion KRW this year. However, during the same period, fee income also increased from 54 billion KRW to 76.3 billion KRW, helping to narrow the deficit.
Toss Bank explained, "Despite a cost structure where most fees are free, we are improving our non-interest profit structure through the diversification of revenue streams—such as 'lump sum investment' services, private label credit cards (PLCC), and 'loans together'—as well as growth in scale. Specifically, the customer response to and usage rates of our check cards, based on customized cashback, have increased."
The customer base has also grown steadily. Toss Bank's total number of customers in the first half reached 12.92 million, a 22.5% increase from the same period last year. As of August, it surpassed 13 million. Monthly Active Users (MAU) stand at 8.8 million. Toss Bank attributes its platform influence to services such as the "1-Minute Brain Exercise" targeting senior users and the "Lump Sum Investment" service, which was the first of its kind among internet-only banks.
As the customer base grew, loan and deposit balances maintained an upward trend. As of the first half, the outstanding loan balance was 15.13 trillion KRW, and the deposit balance was 30 trillion KRW. Total assets reached 33 trillion KRW. Toss Bank remarked, "While growth in loan balances was limited due to compliance with household debt management standards, we improved asset stability by steadily increasing the proportion of guaranteed products, such as jeonse/monthly rent loans and guaranteed loans for private business owners. We achieved both expansion in platform scale and financial soundness as loans, deposits, and total assets all grew evenly."
Meanwhile, with Toss Bank being the last to disclose its results, the report cards for all three internet-only banks for the first half are now public. Among them, only K-Bank showed negative growth. KakaoBank's net profit was 263.7 billion KRW, a 14.0% increase from the same period last year (231.4 billion KRW). K-Bank's profit was 84.2 billion KRW, a 1.4% decrease from the same period last year (85.4 billion KRW). However, looking at the second quarter alone, it recorded 68.2 billion KRW, a 96.3% increase compared to the same period last year (34.7 billion KRW), marking the highest quarterly performance on record.
Unlike Toss Bank, KakaoBank and K-Bank saw a decrease in interest income for the first half. In the case of KakaoBank, loan interest income decreased by 2% compared to the same period last year (from 1.0204 trillion KRW to 999.9 billion KRW), but they maintained overall net profit growth by increasing the proportion of non-interest income to 36%. K-Bank's interest income also dropped by nearly 20%, from 128.6 billion KRW in the first half of 2024 to 103.3 billion KRW this year. Instead, non-interest income increased by 16.2% (from 16.9 billion KRW to 19.7 billion KRW).
All three internet-only banks appear to be focusing on attracting customers through platform activation, as acquiring customers is directly linked to growth indicators like loan and deposit balances. KakaoBank had 25.86 million customers at the end of the first half, the highest among the three. Approximately 1 million new customers were added in the first half of this year. The MAU also reached 19.9 million.
KakaoBank analyzed that "the introduction of new 'app-tech' services, investment services, and AI search contributed to strengthening customer engagement." In the second half, KakaoBank plans to launch new products, including savings products that allow parents and children to manage funds together and group accounts featuring conversational AI services.
K-Bank's customer base reached 14.13 million by the end of the first half and exceeded 14.5 million as of August. Although they added over 1.4 million new customers this year, Toss Bank is in hot pursuit. To increase its teenage customer base, K-Bank launched the "Alpha Card," a product exclusively for youths (ages 14-17), in May. They also benefited significantly from "app-tech" services like "receiving allowance." These efforts increased subscribers and expanded platform advertising revenue.
They have also embarked on the commercialization of stablecoins as a new growth driver. K-Bank stated, "Since April, we have been conducting a Proof of Concept (PoC) for South Korea-Japan overseas remittances using stablecoins, and we filed for trademark rights in July. We have also established a dedicated organization, the 'Digital Asset TF,' to focus on researching business models. We will continue to achieve stable growth and strengthened profitability through enhanced product competitiveness and sophisticated loan management."