KakaoBank Launches AI Search for Banking Queries

Seoul, South Korea - KakaoBank Corp said Monday it will offer customers an artificial intelligence-powered search function that processes financial queries submitted in conversational language.

The digital bank said the service, designated "AI Search," received approval from South Korea's Financial Services Commission in December 2024 under the country's innovative financial services framework.

The company said customers access the function through KakaoBank's mobile application search interface.

They enter questions and select an "Ask AI" option to connect with the system's chat interface.

According to KakaoBank, the service generates responses to financial inquiries and displays related follow-up questions.

The company cited an example where questions about credit loan repayment methods produce information about its lending products alongside additional queries covering documentation and interest rate factors.

KakaoBank said the system integrates with Apple Inc's Intelligence platform, allowing customers to activate searches through voice commands directed to Apple's Siri assistant without opening the mobile application directly.

The bank said it applied Retrieval-Augmented Generation technology to improve response accuracy.

This approach supplements large language models with additional data sources.

KakaoBank stated it incorporated proprietary financial information to generate responses specific to banking topics.

Access requires customer verification and remains limited to users aged 14 years and older, the company said.

The system blocks queries containing personal identification numbers, account information, mobile phone numbers, and content the company categorizes as hate speech or discriminatory language.

KakaoBank designed the service to prevent the storage of consumer financial data on external servers.

The company said the system completed a security evaluation by the Korea Financial Security Institute in April 2025.

The bank said it plans additional AI-based services through 2025 as part of what it terms becoming an "AI Native Bank."

KakaoBank said it will introduce an "AI Financial Calculator" in June for computing interest rates, exchange rates, and payment amounts through conversational interfaces.

The company said the planned calculator will provide responses without requiring complete variable input, as the system interprets user intent.

"Since our launch, we have continuously advanced our services intending to make finance easier and more convenient," a KakaoBank representative said. "We will demonstrate another innovation through the AI-based services that KakaoBank is launching."

KakaoBank, which began operations in 2017, expects the AI service to improve financial accessibility for teenagers and elderly customers.

The company has established itself within South Korea's digital banking sector since launching seven years ago.