Internet-only banks yet to attract senior population

SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's elderly population has yet to embrace internet-only banks, data showed Thursday, raising concerns that seniors are being marginalized in tech-based financial services.

The data provided to ruling party legislator Park Yong-jin by Kakao Bank showed that as of Aug. 3, the internet-only lender had some 1.87 million accountholders. Among them, only 1.6 percent, or 30,512, were users aged 60 and over.

People in their 30s accounted for the largest group of users at 37.5 percent, followed by those in their 20s at 28.2 percent. People in their 40s accounted for 23.2 percent, and those under 20 came to 1.3 percent.

Kakao Bank, which opened on July 27, had 745.16 billion won (US$653.87 million) in deposits as of the measured date, and again, subscribers in their 30s claimed the largest amount with 39.4 percent. People 60 and over accounted for 3.4 percent of the deposits. In other age groups, those in their 50s had 12.8 percent, those in their 40s 36.2 percent. Users in their 20s had 8.2 percent.

The breakdown in users' age was similar for K-Bank, the country's first internet-only bank that opened on April 3. As of Aug 6, only 2.3 percent of its accounts were owned by people 60 and over. Data showed that 10.9 percent of the accountholders were those in their 50s, 30.2 percent in their 40s, 39 percent in their 30s and 17.7 percent in the 20s.

In terms of deposits, users aged 60 or older accounted for 4.8 percent of the total amount. Comparatively, 16.4 percent were people in their 50s, 38.6 percent in their 40s, 33.3 percent in their 30s, and 6.9 percent in the 20s.

Internet-only banks allow transactions without face-to-face encounters and use the saved labor costs to provide loans and other services at lower fees. Industry officials say these sets of data indicate the less tech-savvy senior population cannot easily access such services.

"(Internet banks) need to make efforts to eliminate any inconvenience in their services for people with weak IT connectivity, such as providing assistance through phones," Rep. Park said.
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