Kakao Bank, South Korea's second Internet-only bank, said Monday it has attracted more than 1 million accounts in five days since its launch, a potential game-changing development in the country's financial sector.

The bank said the number of clients hit the milestone as of 1 p.m. on Monday, with deposits and loans being estimated at 344 billion won ($307 million) and 323 billion won, respectively.

It means that the lender has attracted customers at the pace of 9,800 accounts an hour.

Kakao Bank's performance far surpassed that of K-Bank, the nation's first Internet-only bank, which began operations in April.

Kakao Bank was launched by Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea's most widely used mobile messenger Kakao Talk.

Users can open accounts easily with a mobile phone number and ID card without having to visit a conventional bank branch.

Experts have said Internet banks can bring innovation to the sector although they could lead to the elimination of jobs and upend conventional business models.

Reflecting this, brick-and-mortar banks have expanded their mobile banking services in recent years to try to stay relevant as a growing number of people do their banking on computers or smartphones without visiting bank branches. (Yonhap)