Seoul: Kbank, South Korea's internet-only bank, reported a significant decrease in its third-quarter net income, which nearly halved to 19.2 billion won (US$ 13.1 million), marking a 48.1 percent decline from the previous year. The bank attributed this drop in profits to increased investment and marketing expenses.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Kbank's interest income for the July-September period rose by 3.8 percent year-on-year to 111.5 billion won. In contrast, its non-interest income saw a substantial rise of 90.8 percent compared to the previous year, reaching 22.9 billion won. This increase in non-interest income was largely driven by higher operating profits from money market funds (MMF) and fees collected for banking services provided to Upbit, a local cryptocurrency exchange.

The bank explained that its net income decline was primarily due to an 18 billion-won rise in operating expenses, which resulted from ongoing investments in IT infrastructure and increased marketing efforts. Despite these challenges, Kbank's corporate loan balance saw significant growth, standing at 1.9 trillion won by the end of September, an increase of 84.1 percent compared to the previous year.

Kbank's account balance was reported to be 30.4 trillion won as of the end of September, while its loan balance was 17.9 trillion won, indicating the bank's continued expansion in its financial operations.