Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs, Douglas Research Advisory

Douglas Kim

Nearly 25 years of experience in analyzing hundreds of companies, especially in Asia. Deep expertise in the following sectors:
- Technology (E-commerce, SaaS, Internet)
- Consumer 
- Special Situations/Deep Value Plays
- Holdcos/Stubs
- Asian Unicorns/Private Companies

Korea/Asia, Events, IPOs

Kakao Bank - A Sharp Increase in Fraudulent Accounts

Three Major Reasons Why KT Corp Is Likely to Change to a Holding Company Structure

Kakao Bank - A Major Block Deal Is a Big Negative Overhang

KakaoBank - End of the 1 Month Lock Up Period & More Block Selling Ahead Likely by Major Investors

Kakao Pay: An Overview of Korean Fintech Competitors & A Comparison to Viva Republica's Valuation

The Blockchain Delusion. A (Mostly) Bearish Investment Thesis.

Gravity Works As WeWork Doesn't; Now Plan B

Equity Bottom-Up

<p>Toss Bank is the third Internet bank in Korea which is expected to be launched on October 4th. Prior to this launch, Toss Bank has started to take applicants for its bank account that provides 2% annual interest rate 'without any conditions.' This is a frequent deposit and withdrawal passbook that pays 2% annual interest rate without any restrictions on the deposit amount and the subscription period. Toss Bank plans to pay interest on the deposit calculated on a pro-rata basis once a month. </p><div class="content-highlight">
<p>In the past five days, Toss Bank has started to take initial applicants for its 2% annual interest rate bank account and debt card with attractive cash back program (46,500 won per month - maximum). <a href="http://news.kmib.co.kr/article/view.asp?arcid=0016269388&amp;code=61141311&amp;cp=nv" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toss Bank</a> started to take applicants for this bank account product on September 10th and it has gained 0.59mn applicants in just five days.</p>
<p>This is just the start and it is likely that the competition in the Internet banking sector in Korea will heat up even more in the months ahead. We continue to remain negative on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/kakaobank-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:33501:1" rel="noopener">KakaoBank (323410 KS)</a> shares at current levels. </p>
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Toss Bank is the third Internet bank in Korea which is expected to be launched on October 4th. Prior to this launch, Toss Bank has started to take applicants for its bank account that provides 2% annual interest rate 'without any conditions.' This is a frequent deposit and withdrawal passbook that pays 2% annual interest rate without any restrictions on the deposit amount and the subscription period. Toss Bank plans to pay interest on the deposit calculated on a pro-rata basis once a month. 
In the past five days, Toss Bank has started to take initial applicants for its 2% annual interest rate bank account and debt card with attractive cash back program (46,500 won per month - maximum). Toss Bank started to take applicants for this bank account product on September 10th and it has gained 0.59mn applicants in just five days.
This is just the start and it is likely that the competition in the Internet banking sector in Korea will heat up even more in the months ahead. We continue to remain negative on KakaoBank (323410 KS) shares at current levels. 


Toss Bank: A Sharp Growth in New Applicants to Take Away Market Share from Kakao Bank & K-Bank