PANews, December 30 - According to data provided by the Financial Supervisory Service of the Korean National Assembly, the personal credit loan delinquency rate for K Bank's virtual asset related accounts reached 1.28% in the third quarter of this year, with overdue balances amounting to 47.4 billion won, hitting a record high. Since the introduction of virtual asset related accounts in June 2020, both the delinquency rate and overdue balances have continued to rise, especially among mid- to low-credit clients, whose delinquency rate soared to 2.2%, more than three times that of high-credit clients.
As Upbit's partner bank for won accounts, K Bank has benefited from the recent boom in the virtual asset market, but its excessive reliance on Upbit is also seen as a "double-edged sword." While the increase in investor deposits has generated profits for the bank, the deposit interest rate has risen significantly from 0.1% to 2.1% due to regulatory adjustments, greatly increasing the bank's interest expenses. Furthermore, the volatility and uncertainty of the virtual asset market may further impact its asset quality.
Compared to competitors such as Kakao Bank and Toss Bank, K Bank's non-performing loan balance reached 207.2 billion won in the third quarter of 2023, far exceeding the industry level. Analysts point out that K Bank needs to reduce its overall delinquency rate by increasing mortgage loans or loans to high-credit clients to improve asset quality and clear obstacles for the planned IPO.