KB Financial Group Inc. operates as a financial holding company in Korea.
The company’s operations include Kookmin Bank, one of the commercial banks in Korea. The company’s subsidiaries collectively engage in a broad range of businesses, including commercial banking, credit cards, asset management, non-life and life insurance, capital markets activities and international banking and finance.
As part of the company’s commercial banking activities, it provides credit and related financial servic...
KB Financial Group Inc. operates as a financial holding company in Korea.
The company’s operations include Kookmin Bank, one of the commercial banks in Korea. The company’s subsidiaries collectively engage in a broad range of businesses, including commercial banking, credit cards, asset management, non-life and life insurance, capital markets activities and international banking and finance.
As part of the company’s commercial banking activities, it provides credit and related financial services to individuals, small- and medium-sized enterprises and large corporate customers. The company also provides a full range of deposit products and related services to both individuals and enterprises of all sizes. The company provides these services predominantly through Kookmin Bank.
By their nature, the company’s core consumer and small- and medium-sized enterprise operations place a high premium on customer access and convenience. The company's combined banking network of branches, one of the most extensive in Korea, provides a solid foundation for its business. This network provides the company with a large and stable funding source, enables it to provide its customers convenient access and gives the company the ability to provide the customer attention and service essential to conducting its business, particularly in an increasingly competitive environment. The company’s branch network is supplemented by its advanced digital platforms, including KB Star Banking.
The company provides a full range of personal lending products and retail banking services to individual customers, including mortgage loans. The company is the largest private sector mortgage lender in Korea. With respect to large corporate customers, the company continues to seek to maintain and expand quality relationships by providing them with an increasing range of fee-related services.
Strategy
The company’s strategic focus is to become a world-class financial group that achieves sustainable growth amidst a rapidly evolving financial landscape and an increasingly digitalized environment. The company plans to continue to solidify its market position as Korea’s leading financial group, enhance the company’s ability to provide comprehensive financial services to its retail and corporate customers and strengthen the company’s overseas operating platform and network.
The key elements of the company's strategy include providing comprehensive financial services and maximizing synergies among the company's subsidiaries through its financial holding company structure; identifying, targeting and marketing to attractive customer segments and providing superior customer value and service to such segments; focusing on expanding and improving credit quality in the company's corporate lending business and increasing market share in the corporate financial services market; strengthening internal risk management capabilities; and cultivating a performance-based, customer-oriented culture that emphasizes market best practices.
Retail Banking
Due to Kookmin Bank’s history and development as a retail bank and the know-how and expertise the company has acquired from its activities in that market, retail banking has been and will continue to remain one of the company’s core businesses. The company’s retail banking activities consist primarily of lending and deposit-taking.
Lending Activities
The company offers various loan products that target different segments of the population, with features tailored to each segment’s financial profile and other characteristics.
The company’s retail loans consist of:
Mortgage loans, which are loans made to customers to finance home purchases, construction, improvements or rentals; and home equity loans, which are loans made to the company’s customers secured by their homes to ensure loan repayment. The company also provides overdraft loans in connection with its home equity loans.
Other consumer loans, which are loans made to customers for any purpose (other than mortgage and home equity loans). These include overdraft loans, which are loans extended to customers to cover insufficient funds when they withdraw funds from their demand deposit accounts with it in excess of the amount in such accounts up to a limit established by the company.
For secured loans, including mortgage and home equity loans, the company’s policy is to lend up to 100% of the adjusted collateral value (except in areas of high speculation designated by the government where it generally limits the company’s lending to between 30% and 50% of the appraised value of collateral) minus the value of any lien or other security interests that are prior to its security interest. In calculating the adjusted collateral value for real estate, the company uses the appraisal value of the collateral multiplied by a factor, generally between 60% to 80%. This factor varies depending upon the location and use of the real estate and is established in part by considering court-supervised auction prices for nearby properties.
A borrower’s eligibility for the company’s mortgage loans depends on the value of the mortgage property, the appropriateness of the use of proceeds and the borrower’s creditworthiness. A borrower’s eligibility for home equity loans is determined by the borrower’s credit and the value of the property, while the borrower’s eligibility for other consumer loans is primarily determined by the borrower’s credit. As a result, the company reviews the borrower’s creditworthiness, collateral value, credit scoring and third party guarantees when evaluating a borrower.
Mortgage and Home Equity Lending
The company provides customers with a number of mortgage and home equity loan products that has flexible features, including terms, repayment schedules, amounts and eligibility for loans, and it offers interest rates on a commercial basis.
As of December 31, 2024, 49.2% of the company’s mortgage loans were secured by residential property which is the subject of the loan, 25.9% of its mortgage loans were guaranteed by the Housing Finance Credit Guarantee Fund, a government housing-related entity, and the remaining 24.9% of the company’s mortgage loans, contrary to general practices in the United States, were unsecured (although the use of proceeds from these loans is restricted to financing of home purchases and some of these loans are guaranteed by a third party).
The company’s home equity loan portfolio includes loans that are in a second lien position. In addition to the underwriting procedures, it performs when the company issues home equity loans in general, it performs additional underwriting procedures with respect to home equity loans secured by a second lien to assess and confirm the value and status of any loans secured by security interests on the collateral which would be prior to the company’s security interest under the second lien home equity loan.
Other Consumer Loans
Other consumer loans are primarily unsecured. However, such loans may be secured by real estate, deposits or securities. Overdraft loans are also classified as other consumer loans, are primarily unsecured and generally has an initial maturity of one year, which is typically extended automatically on an annual basis and may be extended up to a maximum of ten years.
Deposit-taking Activities
The company offers many deposit products that target different segments of its retail customer base, with features tailored to each segment’s financial profile, characteristics and needs, including:
Demand deposits, which either do not accrue interest or accrue interest at a lower rate than time deposits. Demand deposits allow the customer to deposit and withdraw funds at any time and, if they are interest bearing, accrue interest at a variable rate depending on the amount of deposit.
Time deposits, which generally require the customer to maintain a deposit for a fixed term, during which the deposit accrues interest at a fixed rate, or a variable rate based on the COFIX, or to deposit specified amounts on an installment basis. Most installment savings deposits offer fixed interest rates.
The company’s certificates of deposit are sold at a discount to their face value, reflecting the interest payable on the certificates of deposit.
Foreign currency deposits, which are available to Korean and foreign residents, non-residents and overseas immigrants. The company offers foreign currency demand deposits and time deposits as well as checking accounts in 11 currencies.
The company offers varying interest rates on its deposit products depending upon average funding costs, the rate of return on its interest-earning assets and the interest rates offered by other commercial banks.
The company also offers comprehensive savings deposits for housing subscription, which are monthly installment savings deposits that provide the holder with preferential rights to subscribe for both public and private housing under the Housing Act. This law is the basic law setting forth various measures supporting the purchase of houses and the supply of such houses by construction companies.
In 2002, after significant research and planning, the company launched private banking operations at Kookmin Bank’s headquarters. Shortly thereafter, the company launched a comprehensive strategy with respect to customers with higher net worth, which included staffing appropriate representatives, marketing aggressively, establishing IT systems, selecting appropriate branch locations and readying such branches with the necessary facilities to service such customers. As of December 31, 2024, the company operated 24 main private banking centers through Kookmin Bank.
Credit Cards
Credit cards are another of the company’s core retail products. The company issues most of its credit cards under the ‘KB Kookmin Card’ brand. The company’s credit card business is operated by its subsidiary, KB Kookmin Card Co., Ltd.
The company is committed to continuing to enhance its credit card business by strengthening the company’s risk management and maximizing its operational efficiency. In addition, the company’s extensive branch network, brand recognition and overall size will enables it to cross-sell products such as credit cards to the company’s existing and new customers.
To promote the company's credit card business, it offers services targeted to various financial profiles and customer requirements and are concentrating on strengthening cross-sales to existing customers and offering integrated financial services; offering cards that provide additional benefits, such as frequent flyer miles and reward program points that can be redeemed by the customer for complementary services, prizes and cash; offering platinum cards, VVIP cards and other prime members' cards, which has a higher credit limit and provide additional services in return for a higher fee; acquiring new customers through strategic alliances and cross-marketing with retailers; encouraging increased use of credit cards by existing customers through special offers for frequent users; introducing new features, such as travel services and insurance through alliance partners; and developing fraud detection and security systems to prevent the misuse of credit cards.
The company’s card revenues consist principally of cash advance fees, merchant fees, credit card installment fees, interest income from credit card loans, annual fees paid by cardholders, interest and fees on late payments and, with respect to revolving payment plans it offers, interest and fees relating to revolving balances.
Under non-exclusive license agreements with overseas financial services corporations, the company also issues MasterCard, Visa, American Express, JCB and China UnionPay credit cards.
The company issues debit cards and charge merchants’ commissions in the amount of approximately 1.0% of the amounts purchased using a debit card. The company also issues ‘check cards,’ which are similar to debit cards except that ‘check cards’ are accepted by all merchants that accept credit cards, and charge merchants’ commissions that typically range from 0.25% to 1.50%. Much like debit cards, check card purchases are also debited directly from customers’ accounts with the company.
Corporate Banking
The company lends to and take deposits from small- and medium-sized enterprises and, to a lesser extent, large corporate customers. Kookmin Bank, the company’s banking subsidiary, had 429,262 small- and medium-sized enterprise borrowers and 1,894 large corporate borrowers for Won-currency loans as of December 31, 2024. For 2024, the company received fee revenue from cash management services offered to corporate customers, which include ‘firm-banking’ services such as inter-account transfers, transfers of funds from various branches and agencies of a company (such as insurance premium payments) to the account of the headquarters of such company and transfers of funds from various customers of a company to the main account of such company. Corporate Banking.
On the deposit-taking side, the company offers its corporate customers several types of corporate deposits. The company’s corporate deposit products can be divided into two general categories include demand deposits that has no restrictions on deposits or withdrawals, but which offer a relatively low interest rate; and deposits from which withdrawals are restricted for a period but offer higher interest rates. The company also offers installment savings deposits, certificates of deposit and repurchase instruments. The company offers varying interest rates on deposit products depending upon the rate of return on its income-earning assets, average funding costs and interest rates offered by other nationwide commercial banks.
Small- and Medium-sized Enterprise Banking
The company’s small- and medium-sized enterprise banking business has traditionally been and will remain one of its core businesses because of both the company’s historical development and its accumulated expertise. The company possess the necessary elements to succeed in the small- and medium-sized enterprise market, including its extensive branch network, the company’s credit rating system for credit approval, its marketing capabilities and its ability to take advantage of economies of scale.
The company uses the term ‘small- and medium-sized enterprises’ as defined in the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises and related regulations.
Lending Activities
The company’s principal loan products for its small- and medium-sized enterprise customers are working capital loans and facilities loans. Working capital loans are provided to finance working capital requirements and include notes discounted and trade financing. Facilities loans are provided to finance the purchase of equipment and the establishment of manufacturing assembly plants. As of December 31, 2024, working capital loans and facilities loans accounted for 46.0% and 54.0%, respectively, of the company’s total small- and medium-sized enterprise loans. As of December 31, 2024, Kookmin Bank, the company’s banking subsidiary, had 429,262 small- and medium-sized enterprise customers on the lending side.
As of December 31, 2024, secured loans and guaranteed loans accounted for, in the aggregate, 86.6% of the company’s mall- and medium-sized enterprise loans. Among the secured loans, 97.7% were secured by real estate and 2.3% were secured by deposits or securities.
The company also offers mortgage loans to home builders or developers who build or sell single- or multi-family housing units, principally apartment buildings. Many of these builders and developers are categorized as small- and medium-sized enterprises. The company offers a variety of such mortgage loans, including loans to purchase property or finance the construction of housing units and loans to contractors used for working capital purposes. Such mortgage loans subject the company to the risk that the housing units will not be sold. As a result, the company reviews the probability of the sale of the housing unit when evaluating the extension of a loan. The company also reviews the borrower’s creditworthiness and the adequacy of the intended use of proceeds. Furthermore, the company takes a lien on the land on which the housing unit is to be constructed as collateral. If the collateral is not sufficient to cover the loan, the company also takes a guarantee from the Housing Finance Credit Guarantee Fund as security.
A substantial number of the company’s small- and medium-sized enterprise customers are SOHOs, which it defines to include sole proprietorships and individual business interests. With respect to SOHOs, the company applies credit risk evaluation models, which not only use quantitative analysis related to a customer’s accounts, personal credit and financial information and due amounts but also require its credit officers to perform a qualitative analysis of each potential SOHO customer. The company’s credit risk evaluation model also includes a quantitative analysis of the financial statements of the underlying business. The company generally lends to SOHOs on a secured basis, although a small portion of its SOHO exposures are unsecured.
Large Corporate Banking
Large corporate customers include all companies that are not small- and medium-sized enterprise customers. Kookmin Bank’s articles of incorporation provide that financial services to large corporate customers must be no more than 40% of the total amount of the company’s Won-denominated loans. The company’s business focus with respect to large corporate banking is to selectively increase the proportion of high quality large corporate customers. Specifically, the company is carrying out various initiatives to improve its customer relationship with large corporate customers and has been seeking to expand the company’s service offerings to this segment.
Lending Activities
The company’s principal loan products for its large corporate customers are working capital loans and facilities loans. As of December 31, 2024, working capital loans and facilities loans accounted for 75.4% and 24.6%, respectively, of the company’s total large corporate loans. The company also offers mortgage loans to large corporate clients who build or sell single- or multi-family housing units.
As of December 31, 2024, secured loans and guaranteed loans accounted for, in the aggregate, 43.0% of the company’s large corporate loans. Among the secured loans, 72.1% were secured by real estate and 27.9% were secured by deposits or securities.
As of December 31, 2024, 93.3% of the company’s large corporate customers had credit ratings of BBB- or above according to the internal credit rating system of Kookmin Bank, compared to 81.6% of its small- and medium-sized enterprise customers.
The company monitors the credit status of large corporate borrowers and collect information to adjust its ratings appropriately. The company also manages and monitors its large corporate customers through a dedicated Corporate Banking Branch and Kookmin Bank’s Large Corporate Business Department.
Capital Markets Activities and International Banking/Finance
Through the company’s capital markets operations, it invests and trades in debt and equity securities and, to a lesser extent, engage in derivatives and asset securitization transactions and make call loans. The company also provides investment banking and securities brokerage services.
Securities Investment and Trading
The company invests in and trade securities for its own account to maintain adequate sources of liquidity and to generate interest and dividend income and capital gains.
The company’s trading and investment portfolios consist primarily of Korean treasury securities and debt securities issued by Korean government agencies, local governments or certain government-invested enterprises and debt securities issued by financial institutions.
From time to time, the company also purchases equity securities for its securities portfolios. The company’s equity securities consist primarily of marketable beneficiary certificates and equities listed on the KRX KOSPI Market, the KRX KOSDAQ Market or the KRX KONEX Market.
The company’s trading portfolio also includes derivative-linked securities, the underlying assets of which were linked to, among other things, interest rates, exchange rates, stock price indices or credit risks.
Derivatives Trading
The company engages in derivatives trading, including on behalf of its customers. The company provides and trades a range of derivatives products, including interest rate swaps and options, relating to interest rate risks; cross-currency swaps, forwards and options relating to foreign exchange risks; and stock price index options linked to the KOSPI index.
The company’s derivatives operations focus on addressing the needs of its corporate clients to hedge their risk exposure and the need to hedge the company’s risk exposure that results from such client contracts. The company also engages in derivatives trading activities to hedge the interest rate and foreign currency risk exposures that arise from its own assets and liabilities. In addition, the company engages in proprietary trading of derivatives within its regulated open position limits.
Asset Securitization Transactions
The company is active in the Korean asset-backed securities market. Based on the company’s diverse experience with respect to product development and management capabilities relating to asset securitization, it offers customers a wide range of financial products and participate in various asset securitization transactions, including through the company’s subsidiary KB Securities, to reinforce its position as a leading financial services provider with respect to the asset securitization market.
Call Loans
The company makes call loans and borrow call money in the short-term money market. Call loans are defined as short-term lending among banks and financial institutions either in Won or in foreign currencies with maturities of 90 days or less. Typically, call loans have maturities of one day.
Investment Banking
The company has focused on selectively expanding its investment banking activities to increase its fee income and diversify tits revenue base. The company provides investment banking services primarily through KB Securities and Kookmin Bank. The company's principal investment banking services include securities underwriting; financing and financial advisory services for mergers and acquisitions; project finance and financial advisory services for social overhead capital projects such as highway, port, power, water and sewage projects; financing and financial advisory services for real estate development projects; and structured finance.
In May 2016, the company acquired 22.56% of the outstanding shares of Hyundai Securities Co., Ltd., a publicly listed Korean securities firm, and further increased its shareholding in Hyundai Securities to 29.62% in June 2016 by acquiring treasury shares of Hyundai Securities. In October 2016, the company effected a comprehensive stock swap of the outstanding shares of Hyundai Securities for newly issued shares of its company, as a result of which Hyundai Securities became a wholly owned subsidiary. Following such transaction, the company merged its existing subsidiary, KB Investment & Securities, with and into Hyundai Securities in December 2016 and changed the name of the surviving entity to KB Securities. Through the acquisition of Hyundai Securities and the creation of an integrated securities firm, the company sought to strengthen its investment banking and securities brokerage capabilities, as well as to achieve economies of scale.
Securities Brokerage
The company provides securities brokerage services through KB Securities. The company’s activities include provision of brokerage services to its retail and corporate customers relating to a wide range of investment products, including stocks, futures, options, equity- and derivative-linked securities and debt instruments, as well as provision of prime brokerage services to hedge funds. In addition, the company offers self-directed brokerage services through KB Securities’ online and smartphone brokerage platforms. As of December 31, 2024, KB Securities operated a brokerage network consisting of various branches and sub-branches in Korea.
International Banking and Finance
The company engages in various international banking and finance activities, including foreign exchange services and derivatives dealing, import and export-related services, offshore lending, syndicated loans, foreign currency securities investment and non-life insurance. These services are provided primarily to the company’s domestic customers and overseas subsidiaries and affiliates of Korean corporations and, to a limited extent, to local companies and individuals. The company also raises foreign currency funds through its international banking and finance operations.
Trustee and Custodian Services Relating to Investment Trusts and Other Functions
The company acts as a trustee for 109 financial investment companies with a collective investment license, which invest in investment assets using funds raised by the sale of beneficiary certificates of investment trusts to investors. The company also acts as custodian for 276 financial institutions and as fund administrator for 150 financial institutions with respect to various investments, as well as acting as settlement agent in connection with such services.
Other Businesses
Trust Account Management Services
Money Trust Management Services
The company provides trust account management services for both specified money trusts and unspecified money trusts. The company provides trust account management services for 20 types of money trusts. The maturity of the money trusts the company manages vary by the type of the trust. Approximately 2.4% of its money trusts also provide periodic payments of dividends which are added to the assets held in such trusts and not distributed.
Securities investments consist of government-related debt securities, corporate debt securities, including bonds and commercial paper, equity securities, derivative-linked securities and other securities. Loans made by the company’s trust account operations are similar in type to the loans made by its bank account operations. The company’s money trust accounts also invest, to a lesser extent, in equity securities, including beneficiary certificates issued by financial investment companies with a collective investment license.
Property Trust Management Services
The company also offers property trust management services, where it manages non-monetary assets in return for a fee. Non-monetary assets include mostly securities but can also include other liquid receivables and real estate. Under these arrangements, the company renders custodial services for the property in question and collect fee income in return.
Investment Trust Management
Through KB Asset Management and KB Securities, the company offers investment trust products to customers and manage the funds invested by them in investment trusts.
Insurance
Non-Life Insurance
KB Insurance offers a variety of non-life insurance products, including principally the following:
Long-term insurance products: Long-term insurance products are sold to retail customers and provide protection against various types of losses, with specified coverage periods of at least three years and ranging up to 30 years or ending at specified ages. Unlike general property and casualty insurance products, which usually has a coverage period of one year or less and only has pure protection features, substantially all long-term insurance policies in Korea also has an integrated savings feature. KB Insurance offers a broad range of long-term insurance products covering the policyholder’s injuries, illnesses, long-term care, disabilities, accidents, property losses or other events.
Automobile insurance products: Automobile insurance products are sold to both retail and institutional customers and generally provide coverage for the following types of losses resulting from the policyholder’s ownership or use of an insured automobile: liability to third parties for bodily injuries or death as well as damage to automobiles or other personal property; and the policyholder’s own bodily injuries and automobile damage or theft. KB Insurance’s automobile insurance policies typically have a coverage period of one year or less.
General property and casualty insurance products: General property and casualty insurance products are sold to institutional customers and include the following: fire and allied lines insurance policies, providing protective coverage for damage to buildings and facilities and their contents against fire, flood, storm, lightening, explosion, theft and other risks; marine insurance policies, providing protective coverage for damage to marine vessels and their cargo; and specialty insurance policies, which cover various other types of specified risks faced by businesses, including liabilities and business interruption.
KB Insurance operates a multi-channel distribution platform in Korea, consists of agencies (which are independent insurance brokerage companies), a network of financial consultants, bancassurance arrangements with commercial banks and other financial institutions, direct marketing channels (including home shopping television networks and the Internet) and a corporate sales force.
Life Insurance
In January 2023, to maximize the synergy effects in the company’s life insurance operations, it merged the Former KB Life Insurance with and into Prudential Life Insurance, with the surviving entity being called KB Life Insurance Co., Ltd. Through KB Life Insurance, the company offers a variety of individual and group life insurance products, including annuities, savings insurance, variable life insurance, whole life insurance and term life insurance, as well as health insurance. The company utilizes its multi-channel distribution platforms to market these products, which includes sales through agencies, financial consultants, telemarketers and bancassurance arrangements with commercial banks and other financial institutions.
Bancassurance
Through the bancassurance operations of Kookmin Bank, the company offers insurance products of other institutions to retail customers in Korea. The company markets a wide range of bancassurance products and seek to generate additional fee-based revenues by expanding its offering of these products.
The company’s bancassurance business has alliances with 22 life insurance companies (including its subsidiary, KB Life Insurance) and 11 non-life insurance companies (including the company’s subsidiary, KB Insurance) and offers 98 different products through its branch network. These products are composed of 89 types of life insurance policies, such as annuities, savings insurance and variable life insurance, and 9 types of non-life insurance products.
Consumer Finance
The company provides consumer finance services through KB Capital Co., Ltd. KB Capital provides leasing services and installment finance services for various products, including automobiles, heavy machineries and medical equipment, as well as microlending services. The company expects KB Capital to continue to expand its customer base by providing a variety of non-banking financial services to retail customers, as well as synergies through coordinated business operations with the company’s other subsidiaries, including Kookmin Bank.
Management of the National Housing and Urban Fund
The National Housing and Urban Fund is a government fund that provides financial support to low-income households in Korea by providing mortgage financing and construction loans for projects to build small-sized housing. The operations of the National Housing and Urban Fund include providing and managing National Housing and Urban Fund loans, issuing National Housing and Urban Fund bonds and collecting subscription savings deposits.
Distribution Channels
Banking Branch Network
As of December 31, 2024, Kookmin Bank operated a network of 800 branches and sub-branches in Korea, which was one of the largest branch networks among Korean commercial banks. Approximately 37.8% of the company’s branches and sub-branches are in Seoul, and approximately 21.1% of its branches are in the six next largest cities.
In addition, the company has continued to implement the specialization of its branch functions. Of the company’s branch network as of December 31, 2024, it had two branches that primarily handled large corporate banking.
To support the company’s branch network, it has established an extensive network of ATMs, which are in branches and in unmanned outlets known as ‘autobanks.’ The company has actively promoted the use of these distribution outlets to provide convenient service to customers, as well as to maximize the marketing and sales functions at the branch level, reduce employee costs and improve profitability.
Other Banking Channels
Internet Banking
The company’s Internet banking services include basic banking services, including fund transfers, balance and transaction inquiries, pre-set automatic transfers, product inquiries, online bill and tax payments and foreign exchange services; investment services, including opening deposit accounts and investing in funds; processing of loan applications; electronic certification services, which permit users to authenticate their identity and transactions on a confidential basis through digital signatures; and wealth management and advisory services, including financial planning and real estate information services.
Phone Banking
The company offers a variety of phone banking services, including inter-account fund transfers, balance and transaction inquiries, customer service inquiries and bill payments. The company also has call centers, which it primarily uses to advise clients with respect to deposits, loans and credit cards and to provide the company's customers a way to report any emergencies with respect to their accounts; allow the company's customers to conduct transactions with respect to their accounts, such as balance and transfer inquiries, transfers or payments and opening accounts; and conduct telemarketing to the company's customers or potential customers to advertise products or services.
Smartphone Banking
‘KB Star Banking,’ the company’s mobile banking application for smartphones, allows its customers the flexibility to conduct a variety of financial transactions, including balance and transaction inquiries, fund transfers and asset management, anywhere at any time. It is also intended to act as a hub for all the company’s finance services, including securities transactions and insurance, by providing its customers with access to the key services offered by a number of the company’s subsidiaries, such as KB Securities and KB Insurance. The company’s smartphone banking services include basic banking services, including fund transfers, balance and transaction inquiries, bill payments and foreign exchange services; investment services, including investing in savings deposits that are designed specifically for and offered to smartphone banking customers; and processing of loan applications and bancassurance services.
The company also continues to develop innovative mobile applications that cater to specific customer needs and lifestyles. For example, the company offers ‘KB StarTeens,’ a service offered from its main KB Star Banking application that provides easy-to-use banking services, as well as a variety of non-banking services to the company’s teenage customers. The company also offers a range of other mobile applications, including ‘Liiv Talk Talk,’ its mobile peer-to-peer payment and messaging application, ‘KB Liiv M,’ a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that offers a fusion of finance and mobile services and ‘KB Real Estate,’ its new cloud-based real estate application that provides various information on real properties. The company also offers MyData services through several channels, including KB Star Banking, its mobile banking application, KB Pay, its credit card services application, and KB M-able, the company’s securities trading application.
Other Channels
The company provides cash management services, which include automatic transfers, connection services to other financial institutions, real-time firm banking, automatic fund concentration and transmittal of trading information.
Distribution Channels for Other Services
Through the company’s non-banking subsidiaries, it operates a network of dedicated branches and other distribution channels through which its customers can access credit card, securities brokerage, insurance and consumer finance products and services.
The company’s other non-banking subsidiaries also operate a number of branches in Seoul and other areas. The company also provides credit card, securities brokerage, insurance and consumer finance services through dedicated call centers, smartphone applications and Internet websites operated by KB Kookmin Card, KB Securities, KB Insurance, KB Life Insurance and KB Capital.
Loan Portfolio
As of December 31, 2024, the company’s loan portfolio included corporate, such as small- and medium-sized enterprise and large corporate; retail, such as mortgage and home equity and other consumer; and credit cards.
Investment Portfolio
The company invests in and trades Won-denominated and, to a lesser extent, foreign currency-denominated securities for its own account to maintain the stability and diversification of its assets; maintain adequate sources of back-up liquidity to match its funding requirements; and supplement income from its core lending activities. The company also invests in and trades such securities as part of the general account investments of its insurance subsidiaries that support their insurance policy liabilities.
The company’s investments in securities are also subject to a number of guidelines, including limitations prescribed under the Financial Holding Company Act and the Bank Act.
Funding
The company obtains funding for its lending activities from a variety of sources, both domestic and foreign. The company’s principal source of funding is customer deposits. In addition, the company acquires funding through long-term borrowings (consists of debentures and borrowings), short-term borrowings, including borrowings from the bank of Korea, and call money.
The company’s primary funding strategy has been to achieve low-cost funding by increasing the average balances of low-cost retail deposits, in particular demand deposits and time deposits. The company also has focused its marketing efforts on higher net worth individuals, who account for a significant portion of the assets in its retail deposit base.
The company’s borrowings consist of issuances of debentures and borrowings from financial institutions, the Korean government and government-affiliated funds. The majority of the company’s borrowings is long-term, with maturities ranging from one year to 15 years.
Deposits
As of December 31, 2024, the company's deposits were demand deposits, such as non-interest-bearing deposits and interest-bearing deposits; time deposits; and certificates of deposit.
Credit Card Business
Credit card companies, including the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, KB Kookmin Card Co., Ltd., are regulated by the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service.
History
KB Financial Group Inc. was founded in 1963. The company was incorporated in 2008 under the Financial Holding Companies Act of Korea.
