An account count reported by The Korea Herald puts Hana Bank first among South Korean lenders serving foreign nationals, with 4.2 million accounts recorded on Sept. 21, 2026.
Woori Bank followed with 2.56 million accounts, while KB Kookmin Bank had 1.49 million, Industrial Bank of Korea 1.32 million and Shinhan Bank 1.3 million, the newspaper reported. It also put NH NongHyup at about 877,000 and Toss Bank at about 321,000. The Korea Herald said the figures came from a Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) response obtained by People Power Party Rep. Park Sung-hoon. The response was not publicly available.
The ranking measures accounts rather than distinct customers. A person can hold several accounts, so the totals cannot establish each lender's share of foreign customers. They also provide no information about the balances those customers hold.
South Korea's Justice Ministry tracks foreign nationals staying in the country, including short-term visitors. That population measure counts people and cannot be used to calculate customer shares from the bank account tally.
The Korea Herald quoted a Woori Bank official as citing difficulty visiting banks during the workweek for many foreign customers. Woori lists Sunday branches for those customers, while a Hana notice from 2018 describes Sunday banking for foreign workers. The account figures do not show whether branch hours affected the ranking.
Kakao Bank announced a service for foreign residents on Oct. 12, 2026, covering account opening through its app, debit cards and overseas remittances. Its guidance says applicants must be at least 19, have qualifying Korean-issued identification and use a phone registered in their own name. The bank says the app offers translations in English, Chinese and Vietnamese.
Kakao Bank plans to offer a debit card usable overseas in December 2026.
