SEOUL, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) — Three South Korean internet-only banks’ lending to small-business owners jumped more than 50 percent in the first half of the year amid tighter household lending rules, their financial data showed Sunday.
The combined balance of small-business loans at K-Bank, Kakao Bank and Toss Bank rose 50.6 percent from a year earlier to 8.32 trillion won (US$5.98 billion) at the end of June, according to their first-half financial reports.
Faced with tighter household lending regulations, the internet-only banks have been expanding lending to small businesses to seek growth in corporate finance.
They also plan to diversify their revenue sources into fee-based businesses such as platform services and asset management.
The three lenders’ combined loan balance stood at 83.63 trillion won at the end of June.
kyongae.choi@yna.co.kr
(END)