South Korea’s first Internet-only bank, K bank has officially launched its business, vowing to offer higher interest rates for depositors and lower interest rates for marginalized borrowers, as the company saves costs from having no brick-and-mortar branches. K bank’s services are available 24/7 on a smartphone app and on the Internet. It offers five kinds of deposit products, three loans and two check cards. One of its representative products include the Code K Regular Deposit which offers 2 percent annual yield, the highest level among the first-tier banking industry. The Slim K Mid-rate Loan, targeting those with credit ratings of 4 to 6, offers a 4.19 percent to 9 percent interest rate depending on borrowers’ credit grade, which still makes it the lowest level among commercial lenders in the primary banking sector, with a maximum loan set at 30 million won. The smaller net interest margin compared to that of existing banks can be covered by the costs saved from not having bank tellers and bank branches, said K bank CEO Shim Sung-hoon. K bank is a consortium formed by 21 stakeholders. Telco giant KT has 8 percent, and the remaining 20 firms include Woori Bank, NH Investment & Securities, GS Retail, Hanwha Life Insurance and Alipay, the Chinese payment platform affiliated with e-commerce giant Alibaba. Internet-only Kakao Bank, under Kakao Corp., the operator of the dominant chat app Kakao Talk, is expected to win a final regulatory approval soon and launch its services within the first half of the year, industry watchers.