(30 June 2026 – South Korea) Neobank KakaoBank plans to acquire Mastern Capital outright as part of its first foray into non-bank lending as Korea’s largest digital-only lender seeks to expand its financial product and services offering.
The messaging app that evolved into a neobank plans to use the digital finance capabilities and technology it has built-up since founding in 2016 and launching in 2017 to enhance convenience and drive innovation in a country where in-person processes represent the bulk of client engagement.
Kakao Talk covered 95 percent of smartphones in Korea at the time of the bank’s inception in 2017. The group’s board approved the purchase of all 5 million shares in Mastern Capital and intends to complete the takeover by Q4 2026.
The acquisition is part of KakaoBank’s corporate value enhancement plan and marks its first expansion into nonbank lending. Founded in 2022 through a joint investment by Mastern Investment Management and NH Investment & Securities, Mastern Capital is a specialised credit finance company offering leasing, corporate finance and other services.
“We will start with instalment financing before gradually expanding into other capital finance businesses. In the near term, we plan to build a stable business base and work with partners, including auto distribution platforms, to accelerate the digital shift in auto finance” Kakao Bank said in an official statement.
“We aim to extend the digital financial innovation technology and expertise we have accumulated into the capital finance business and provide new financial experiences across various areas closely linked to customers’ daily lives. We want to expand the technology and know-how of non-face-to-face financial innovation that we have accumulated so far to provide new financial experiences in various areas close to our customers’ lives. We will strengthen productive finance through phased business expansion and strive to enhance corporate value by increasing platform competitiveness and capital efficiency.”
Kakao Bank has been exploring stablecoin development, hiring blockchain engineers and building toward a KRW-pegged coin. Following its first annual profit and positioning blockchain as its next growth axis, the company is developing a “super wallet” representing a unified interface spanning KakaoPay, KakaoBank, and KakaoTalk that can hold fiat currency and stablecoins.