Korea Credit Bureau

What Korea Credit Bureau does

Korea Credit Bureau (KCB) is South Korea's leading licensed credit bureau, established in February 2005 by a consortium of 18 major Korean financial institutions (banks, credit card issuers, and insurers) with 500 billion KRW in registered capital, following the IMF financial crisis to centralize credit information sharing. Headquartered in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, the company operates a comprehensive credit infrastructure covering 43.67 million credit-active individuals and 1,387 trillion KRW in outstanding loan balances, providing credit reports, scores, fraud detection, and risk assessment services to virtually all major Korean financial institutions.

KCB's product portfolio spans three core business lines: Consumer & Small Business Credit Scoring (k-score, SOHO score, Pre-Cure/Self Cure Scores, SAFE-A fraud scoring, K-DSR, MyData Score); Business Credit Reporting via the Bizground platform (corporate credit ratings, ESG assessments, public bidding reports); and Consumer Credit Research. Underlying these are proprietary AI/ML capabilities including the KAI machine learning solution (2017), k.ai-S strategy development tool (2018), homomorphic encryption for privacy-preserving analytics, and synthetic data generation. The company extends its infrastructure through multiple sub-brands — AllCredit (B2C consumer platform), CreditPartner (enterprise risk management), OK-name (identity verification serving 1,000+ institutions), K-Atlas (geographic data visualization), and the DataStore marketplace (data APIs and statistical products). KCB has also expanded internationally, establishing cross-border credit information partnerships with Myanmar, Cambodia, Philippines, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Indonesia.

KCB generates revenue through a diversified mix of recurring B2B subscriptions and per-query fees with financial institutions, B2C freemium subscriptions on AllCredit (free 3x/year score checks plus premium credit management and identity protection), enterprise and data API monetization via DataStore and K-Atlas, identity verification through OK-name, custom credit model development and consulting services, and a joint venture (TelcoCB) for telecom-based alternative credit scoring. The company operates under Korea's Credit Information Act with ISMS-P certification (valid through October 2028) and ISO 27001 certification (since 2006), holding the MyData license acquired in July 2021. As a private, shareholder-owned entity without subsequent equity funding rounds since founding, KCB combines the structural advantages of cooperative ownership with the operational discipline of a for-profit enterprise.

Name

Korea Credit Bureau

Legal name

코리아크레딧뷰로 주식회사

Website

https://koreacb.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Korea Credit Bureau (KCB) is South Korea's licensed credit bureau, providing credit scoring, reporting, fraud detection, and alternative data analytics to financial institutions, consumers, and corporations. Founded in 2005 by 18 major Korean financial institutions, KCB covers 43.67 million credit-active individuals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Credit Bureau Services

NAICS

Credit Bureaus (561450), Credit Bureaus (56145)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320)

akta.pro primary industry

Credit Bureaus & Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies (FSAKAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Consumer Identity Verification (KYC) & Fraud Risk for Credit (FSAKAKAD)

Keywords

• Credit bureau services
• Credit risk analytics
• Business credit reporting
• Alternative credit scoring
• Consumer credit management

Headquarters

HQ city

Yongdungpo

HQ country

South Korea

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Credit Information Services to Financial Institutions: B2B services providing credit reports, scores, and risk assessment to banks, credit card companies, insurance firms, and savings banks. Revenue generated from per-query fees and subscription arrangements with member financial companies.
2. Consumer Credit Services (AllCredit): B2C platform offering free credit score checks (3 times per year), premium credit management services, financial identity protection, and score improvement programs to individual consumers.
3. Business Credit Reporting (Bizground): Corporate credit evaluation services including public bidding reports, private sector evaluation reports, ESG assessment reports, and credit rating self-diagnosis for businesses.
4. Data Products and APIs (DataStore): Data marketplace offering statistical and microdata products including population, income, credit, asset, and business information via API access and file downloads.
5. Model Development and Consulting: Custom credit scoring model development and consulting services for financial institutions, leveraging proprietary methodologies and extensive time-series data assets.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

KCB operates Korea's premier credit bureau infrastructure, collecting and analyzing credit information from 18 major financial institutions covering 43.67 million credit-active individuals. The company provides credit scoring models (k-score, SOHO scores), business credit reporting, consumer credit management platforms (AllCredit), identity verification (OK-name), and a data marketplace (DataStore) selling aggregated statistical and microdata products via API access.

Product overview

KCB operates as a comprehensive credit bureau infrastructure offering three core business lines: (1) Consumer & Small Business Credit Scoring with products like k-score and SOHO scores, supported by AI/ML solutions KAI and k.ai-S; (2) Business Credit Reporting via Bizground platform for corporate evaluations; and (3) Consumer Credit Research for market analysis. Consumer-facing services include AllCredit for personal credit management, while B2B offerings encompass CreditPartner for enterprise risk, OK-name for identity verification, and K-Atlas for geographic data visualization. The KCB Data Store platform provides aggregated data products and APIs. The portfolio also includes specialized scores for fraud prevention (SAFE-A), pre-delinquency management (Pre-Cure, Self Cure), and alternative credit evaluation using MyData and telecommunications data.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Consumer & Small Business Credit Scoring (개인 및 개인사업자 신용평가) B2B and B2C credit evaluation services including credit risk management, model development, credit reports, credit scores (k-score), and fraud prevention services for individuals and small business owners. Built on KCB's time-series credit database covering 43.67 million credit-active individuals.
• Business Credit Reporting (기업신용조회) Corporate credit evaluation platform providing credit ratings, evaluation reports for public bidding and private corporations, ESG assessments, and corporate growth support services for companies requiring ratings for procurement and partnerships.
• Consumer Credit Research (가계금융연구)

Quantifiable outcome

• 43.67 million credit-active individuals in database
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers21 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

20 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• 미얀마 MMCB (Myanmar Credit Bureau)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 March 2026Cross-Border credit information service partnership enabling international credit data sharing between Korea and Myanmar. KCB provides technical expertise and methodology for credit evaluation systems development in Myanmar.
• 몽골 BurenScorecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 January 2026Cooperation seminar with Mongolia's private credit bureau BurenScore for alternative credit evaluation methodology sharing.
• 인도네시아 금융감독청 (OJK)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 December 2025High-level seminar with Indonesia's Financial Services Authority (OJK) for credit information system development cooperation.
• 홍콩 PAOC CRAcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 November 2025Cross-Border service MOU for credit information sharing between Hong Kong and Korea, facilitating financial services for businesses operating in both regions.
• 우즈베키스탄coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 July 2025Cross-Border service and CB product development cooperation MOU with Uzbekistan for credit information infrastructure development.
• 중소벤처기업부, 한전coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 July 2025Joint development of 'Small Business Alternative Credit Evaluation Model' addressing financing challenges for small merchants using alternative data sources.
• 카카오페이 (KakaoPay)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 June 2025Development partnership for 'KakaoPay Score' alternative credit evaluation model, utilizing mobile payment data and alternative information for credit assessment of platform users.
• 필리핀coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 May 2025Cross-Border credit information service MOU for sharing credit data between Korea and Philippines.
• 캄보디아coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 April 2025Korea-Cambodia Cross-Border credit report viewing service launch, enabling access to credit reports across borders.
• 캄보디아 CIC (Credit Information Bureau)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Cross-border credit information service MOU with Cambodia's Credit Information Chamber for international credit data exchange.
• 캄보디아 CBCcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2024Product development contract with Cambodia Commercial Bank (CBC) for credit evaluation systems.
• 캄보디아 CBC (Credit Information Bureau Cambodia)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024MOU with Cambodia's Credit Information Bureau for activation of cross-border credit information provision between the two countries.
• 통신 3사, 서울보증보험 합작법인coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2023Joint venture establishment approved for alternative credit evaluation combining telecommunications data (SKT, KT, LGT) with Seoul Guarantee Insurance coverage.
• 하나은행minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2023MOU for Mobile Safety Plus service introduction, enhancing mobile banking security through credit-based verification.
• 서스틴베스트minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2022MOU for ESG evaluation model development and business cooperation.
• 인도네시아 페핀도CB (Pefindo CB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2022Partnership agreement with Indonesian credit bureau Pefindo CB for credit information exchange and best practices sharing.
• 서울신용보증재단minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2020Mutual data exchange and joint business MOU for small business support.
• 인도네시아 PEFINDOcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2018Market Development in Credit Information Sector MOU for credit bureau development cooperation in Indonesia.
• KTcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2018Strategic MOU for global expansion of credit evaluation platform business utilizing KT's telecommunications infrastructure and data capabilities.
• 서울시minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2018MOU for development of Seoul city living financial data for policy analysis and urban planning.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Equifax: Global credit bureau operating across consumer and commercial credit reporting, analytics, and identity verification. Comparable in core bureau infrastructure and alternative-data scoring; competes with KCB's cross-border ambitions and is a structural benchmark for valuation methodology.
• Experian: One of the three largest global credit bureaus with consumer and business credit reporting, fraud analytics, and decisioning platforms. Comparable through shared bureau data model, scoring methodology, and adjacent verticals (identity verification, marketing data) where KCB operates via OK-name and DataStore.
• TransUnion: Global consumer credit bureau with established Asia-Pacific presence in markets including Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Comparable to KCB in core bureau offering and in the specific Asian cross-border geographies KCB has targeted.
• CRIF: Global credit bureau and business information provider with strong European and emerging-market footprint, particularly in credit scoring, ID verification, and open banking. Comparable through diversified bureau + analytics + ID-verification offering that overlaps with KCB's consumer, business, and OK-name product lines.

Direct peers

• PEFINDO (Pemeringkat Efek Indonesia): Indonesia's leading credit bureau with partnerships on credit information exchange, scoring development, and OJK engagement — directly comparable to KCB's regional play and an active MOU-based partner. Comparable business mix of consumer/business credit reports and analytics.
• CreditInfo: Iceland-headquartered credit information and decisioning platform operating credit bureaus and scoring infrastructure across Central/Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Comparable as a credit bureau operator that licenses technology and methodology into emerging-market bureaus, mirroring KCB's outbound playbook.
• Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC): Cambodia's licensed national credit bureau operating under the National Bank of Cambodia's credit information framework. Direct cross-border service partner of KCB with co-developed scoring methodologies, making it both a peer and a customer of KCB's regional expansion effort.
• NICE Credit Information: Korea's other dominant credit bureau and KCB's primary domestic duopoly competitor. NICE operates parallel personal/business credit scoring, data analytics, and consumer credit platforms under the Credit Information Act, directly serving the same Korean banks, card issuers, and insurers that are KCB's shareholders.

Regional players

• CIBIL (TransUnion CIBIL): India's dominant credit bureau under a TransUnion joint venture, serving all major Indian banks with consumer and commercial credit reports. Comparable model of credit bureau-as-shared-infrastructure, scaled to a much larger domestic market but with similar product structure (CIBIL score, reports, analytics).

Emerging players

• Myanmar Credit Bureau (MMCB): Myanmar's licensed private credit bureau that recently signed a cross-border credit information MOU with KCB in March 2026. Comparable as an early-stage national bureau receiving technical and methodological support from KCB, paralleling similar models in other emerging Asian markets.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/korea-credit-bureau-kcb

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Korea Credit Bureau