KakaoBank has become South Korea’s first internet-only bank to enter the mortgage balance loan market, offering customers moving into designated newly built apartments a fully mobile process covering rate checks, applications and disbursement. The bank initially covers 20 complexes comprising 12,806 general-sale units, including 11 in the Seoul metropolitan area and nine elsewhere. Customers can check expected limits and rates from about eight weeks before move-in, roughly two weeks earlier than the typical window at traditional banks. Loans are available up to 1 billion won within loan-to-value (LTV) and debt-service ratio (DSR) rules, with terms of up to 40 years, two repayment options and no early repayment fee. KakaoBank will recalculate rates about one month before move-in and apply any lower rate retroactively to customers who have already signed loan agreements. It also supports acquisition-tax filing and ownership registration through a credit bureau and partner law firm, and plans to expand eligibility to redevelopment and remodeling project members. The launch comes as South Korean authorities raise the household-loan growth target and exclude group loans, including balance loans, from individual financial companies’ volume targets. KakaoBank’s mortgage balance fell to 14.8 trillion won in the second quarter from 15.1 trillion won in the first, its first quarterly decline since the mortgage product launched in 2022.