[Edaily Reporter Kang Min-koo ] kakaopay posted strong financial results, overcoming concerns about a slowdown in earnings raised by the securities industry and others, driven by the simultaneous growth of its payment and financial services. On a consolidated basis for the third quarter, operating profit rose 105.4% year-over-year to 32.5 billion won, while net income reached 32.9 billion won. The operating profit margin and net profit margin stood at 10.7% and 10.9%, respectively, maintaining stable profitability. Shinwon, CEO of kakaopay, explained during a conference call on the 3rd, “Amid market volatility, we have demonstrated the company’s fundamentals and profit-generating capabilities based on robust growth in our core payment business and structural improvements across our financial services.”

Kakaopay’s consolidated transaction volume for the third quarter of this year reached 53.7 trillion won, a 14% increase from the same period last year. Revenue-generating transaction volume rose 22% to 16.5 trillion won during the same period, accounting for over 30% of total transaction volume.

Payment services drove this growth. Online payments through Kakao-affiliated and external merchants rose by 18%, while offline payments—which boosted user loyalty through enhanced personalized benefits—increased by 44%. Overseas payments also rose by 28%.

Money transfer services grew by 11%, driven by an increase in stock trading volume. The kakaopay Money balance continued its steady growth, reaching 2.8077 trillion won. Baek Seung-jun, Head of Business Operations, explained, “The cost competitiveness provided by the kakaopay Money ecosystem offers a stable foundation for growth compared to competitors focused on card payments,” adding, “It also enables integration with other mobile payment services, such as Samsung Pay and Zero Pay, as well as a transition to financial services.”

User traffic also remained robust. The number of daily active users (DAU) surpassed 7 million for the first time, driven by expanded traffic in core services. The average number of transactions per user (ATPU) rose 15% year-over-year to 87, while average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 23% to 12,388 won.

Consolidated revenue for the third quarter was 302.1 billion won, a 27% increase year-over-year. Growth in core businesses such as payments and finance drove this revenue expansion.

kakaopay attributed this improvement in performance to accelerated growth in payments, the advancement of AI services, the continued growth of its investment and insurance subsidiaries, and the strengthening of its digital asset business foundation.

In the payments segment, the company increased its market share through seasonal promotional collaborations with Kakao Commerce services and set a new quarterly record for transaction volume through strategic partnerships with external merchants in key sectors such as travel and transportation, as well as data-driven, highly effective personalized marketing.

AI-based hyper-personalized services are also gaining traction. “AI Coach,” which launched in beta last August, has surpassed 450,000 cumulative visitors as of October, with usage rates rising—43% of visitors are using AI Coach to set budget goals. Park Jeong-ho, Head of Services, stated, “We are seeing a trend where users are voluntarily entrusting their asset management to AI,” adding, “We plan to officially launch the service after verifying its safety and sequentially expand features that handle complex calculations and track financial information that is easy to overlook.”

kakaopay also plans to expand its integration with Kakao’s AI model, “Kanana.” Through this, the company aims to enable AI agents to handle financial tasks such as money transfers and payments.

The company is also accelerating its response in the digital asset sector. To build a next-generation digital asset ecosystem centered on the Super Wallet, kakaopay is focusing on improving wallet usability, establishing a global standard settlement network, strengthening security infrastructure, and expanding real-world use cases. To this end, it has formed partnerships with global companies such as Circle, Fireblocks, Grab, and SCBx. Last September, it co-hosted the “Next Finance Korea” event with KB Financial Group to present a roadmap for the next-generation digital asset ecosystem and propose joint development with financial and non-financial businesses.

CEO Shinwon Geun stated, “While it is difficult to specify a particular timeline due to legislative uncertainties surrounding the Digital Asset Framework Act and the stablecoin bill, if the bills are introduced this month, we believe commercialization is likely to occur in 2028. However, we cannot rule out the possibility of delays depending on domestic political conditions.” He added, “Rather than waiting for the legislation to take effect, we plan to prepare technically with various partners so that we can respond quickly when commercialization actually begins.”

CEO Shin added, “We will continue to pursue qualitative growth of our platform through synergies within the Kakao Group and do our utmost to deliver results that live up to the trust of the market and our shareholders.”