[비즈한국] KakaoBank323410 is accelerating its global business expansion. KakaoBank recently announced a collaboration plan with Mongolia's conglomerate, MCS Group, centered on the development of a credit evaluation model. By expanding into Mongolia following its entry into Indonesia and Thailand, the company is diversifying its overseas business portfolio. With its first investment target, Indonesia’s 'Superbank,' successfully turning a profit, expectations for its performance are rising, drawing attention to the results and the ability to secure control in its overseas ventures.
KakaoBank announced on the 3rd that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mongolia’s MCS Group to enter the Mongolian financial market. MCS Group is a major Mongolian conglomerate operating in diverse sectors such as energy, telecommunications, construction, and distribution through approximately 200 subsidiaries. Its local influence is significant, with 11 of its subsidiaries ranking among the top 100 companies in Mongolia.
The agreement includes △strategic equity investment in the digital bank 'M Bank' △upgrading credit evaluation models △joint development of alternative credit evaluation models △consulting for products, services, UX, and UI △and joint expansion into Central Asia. M Bank is Mongolia’s only digital bank and is one of MCS Group’s financial subsidiaries.
At the ‘2026 Press Talk’ held in Yeouido, Seoul on the 8th, Yun Ho-young, CEO of KakaoBank, explained, "Because Mongolia lacked a well-established credit evaluation system, they approached us first with a collaboration proposal. Entering Mongolia is significant in that it exports the inclusive financial capabilities KakaoBank has proven in Korea to the world."
The core of the agreement is the development of a new alternative credit evaluation model tailored to the local market. KakaoBank has independently developed a non-financial data-based credit scoring model (CSS) called 'KakaoBank Score,' and the intention is to jointly develop a model based on this. To develop and utilize the credit scoring model, KakaoBank plans to collaborate with several of MCS Group's financial subsidiaries, including the credit finance firm 'Simple' and the financial platform 'Toki,' in addition to M Bank.
Regarding the timing and methods for a full-scale entry into Mongolia, KakaoBank responded, "The MOU with MCS Group is the beginning stage of our collaboration; details such as whether to invest, the amount, and the timing have not been decided. We are exploring various collaboration methods, including investment, upgrading credit evaluation models, and providing consulting for products and services."
Having entered the Southeast Asian market through investments in Indonesia and Thailand, KakaoBank has now expanded its reach to Central Asia with this agreement. Regarding his overseas expansion strategy, CEO Yun stated, "The first condition for global expansion is having a good partner with a high level of understanding of the local market. The second is marketability. We look at how much the market can grow in the future rather than just its current size."
In 2023, KakaoBank invested 113.9 billion KRW into the Indonesian digital bank 'Superbank' to secure a 10% stake (8.7% as of the end of 2025). Superbank introduced KakaoBank’s gamification elements, such as the 'Lucky Pocket' service that encourages app access via small rewards, and automatic savings products. It successfully listed on the local exchange in December 2025. As of February this year, it has surpassed 6.4 million customers and 1.2 million daily transactions.
In Thailand, the company is preparing to operate a virtual bank by establishing a joint venture (JV) called 'Bank X' with local financial holding company SCBX and China’s WeBank. A virtual bank is one that provides only digital services without offline branches, similar to Korea's internet-only banks. KakaoBank plans to increase its stake in Bank X from 10% to 24.5% in the future.
Bank X is aiming to open as a virtual bank in the first quarter of 2027. Punnamas Vichitkulwongsa, CEO of Bank X, explained on the 8th, "Thailand’s population is 70 million, which is larger than Korea's. This brings both many opportunities and challenges. Only 1 in 10 people prepares a financial plan, and it is difficult to secure loans through financial institutions. The mission of Bank X is to simplify finance and help customers achieve their financial plans. We aim to reach a 25% cost-to-income ratio within five years of opening the virtual bank."
As KakaoBank is the most active among the three domestic internet-only banks (K-Bank, KakaoBank, Toss Bank) in expanding abroad, its performance is drawing attention. For Superbank, its first global investment, performance was closely watched as over 100 billion KRW was invested. According to KakaoBank’s 2025 business report, investment results have shown improvement. Superbank’s net profit was -39.1 billion KRW in 2024, but it successfully turned a profit in 2025, recording 8.6 billion KRW. KakaoBank's equity method income from Superbank (the value of equity based on the investee's performance) also increased from -3.1 billion KRW in 2024 to 1.6 billion KRW in 2025.
Some point out that its influence is weak due to the methods of entry such as equity investment, MOUs, and JV establishment. When asked at the 2026 Press Talk about whether it had secured leadership in its overseas business, CEO Yun Ho-young replied, "We categorize overseas expansion into three stages. Stage 1 is passing on know-how to local companies while making decisions, Stage 2 is a joint venture, and Stage 3 is when the company itself takes the lead. Superbank is a Stage 1 model, and Bank X is a Stage 2 model. In the case of a JV, the areas of involvement are clearly divided. We are communicating organically from the strategy stage."