KB Kookmin Bank and Bithumb Extend Real-Name Account Partnership for One Year

KB Kookmin Bank and cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb have extended their partnership for real-name verification accounts for another year.

According to the financial sector on September 28, KB Kookmin Bank and Bithumb recently renewed their real-name account partnership for an additional year. The two parties had previously agreed to extend the contract by one year and reported the related changes to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) earlier this month. Following the FIU's acceptance of the change report, the necessary procedures were completed, allowing the partnership to continue until September of next year.

In March, KB Kookmin Bank and Bithumb had extended their real-name account partnership for six months. Although they typically sign contracts for one year, the duration was shortened to six months due to a significant Bitcoin overpayment incident at Bithumb. Subsequently, KB Kookmin Bank conducted a review of Bithumb's anti-money laundering (AML) system and internal controls, along with risk assessments and internal audits. After these procedures, the contract period was extended back to one year.

The decision to renew the partnership is believed to be influenced by the expansion of deposit bases and the activation of the platform through the collaboration with Bithumb. As of the end of the first half of this year, KB Kookmin Bank's demand deposit balance stood at 176.8 trillion won, an increase of 25.3 trillion won compared to 151.5 trillion won at the end of 2024. During the same period, the monthly active users (MAU) of KB Kookmin Bank's mobile app, KB Star Banking, rose from 13.03 million to 14.06 million.