SEOUL, April 18th, 2025: Credit cards reign supreme in Korea, dominating both local and international transactions, according to a recent survey by the Bank of Korea.
According to the “Payment Methods and Mobile Financial Service Usage Behavior Survey Results” conducted by the Bank of Korea on March 25, 2025, with approximately 3,500 adults aged 19 and older participating, credit cards scored the highest in overall satisfaction at 75.5 points. This ranking was based on consumer perceptions of convenience, safety, acceptance and cost.
Debit cards followed at 72.9 points, cash at 64.4 points and prepaid funds at 54.5 points. Notably, credit cards also emerged as a key payment method for international transactions, with 89.2% of respondents who made overseas payments in the past year reporting they used a credit card.
Credit cards have firmly established themselves as the most common and widely used payment method in Korea. According to the e-Nara Index, data run by the government showed that transaction volumes of credit cards in Korea increased from KRW 812.3 trillion in 2020 to KRW 1,043.9 trillion in 2023, marking a growth rate of approximately 29% over the past three years.
Hyundai Card: Korea’s No. 1 Credit Card Company
Amid this steep growth in Korea’s credit card market, Hyundai Card, established in 2001, holds a crucial position as an affiliate of the Hyundai Motor Group. The company is widely regarded as the credit card issuer in Korea most associated with the labels “first” and “No. 1.”
Hyundai Card has consistently introduced innovative products and services leading the market. In 2003, the company launched Hyundai Card M with the industry’s first Save Points System, which allows points to be credited first and deducted later. In 2005, it launched the Black, Korea’s first VVIP credit card. Since 2006, Hyundai Card has partnered with MoMA to sponsor over 50 exclusive exhibitions, blending arts and finance into a unique branding strategy. In 2017, it launched the world’s first vertical card optimized for smartphone users. That same year, it issued EMV contactless credit cards and in 2023, became the first Korean credit card issuer to introduce Apple Pay to the domestic market, leading a paradigm shift in the digital payment ecosystem.
These innovative efforts have resulted in clear achievements. Last year, Hyundai Card’s annual credit sales reached approximately KRW 166.2 trillion, marking the first time it recorded the number one market share in Korea. The number of individual members also increased by approximately 510,000 compared to the previous year, totaling about 12.25 million members, which means that one in four Koreans uses Hyundai Card. Notably, the overseas pay-in-full transactions of individual members increased by about KRW 820 billion (32.6%) compared to the previous year, reaching a total of about KRW 3.35 trillion. This indicates the growth in Hyundai Card users and the expansion of domestic and international payment scales, providing insights into how Hyundai Card reached the number one position in the developed credit card business in Korea.
A Distinctive Business Model Succeeding in Both GPCC and PLCC
The key reason Hyundai Card has maintained its No. 1 position in the Korean credit card market is its exceptional success in both GPCC (General Purpose Credit Card) and PLCC (Private Label Credit Card) categories. GPCC refers to credit cards that provide broad benefits across all affiliates under the Hyundai Card brand, while PLCC refers to credit cards that offer enhanced rewards when used at partner companies based on partnerships with leading domestic and international companies.
GPCC set the foundation for Hyundai Card, which emerged as a latecomer in the card industry in 2001. A notable example is Hyundai Card M, launched in 2003, one of Korea’s longest-standing single-brand credit cards with over 35 million issued units to date. It offers unlimited reward points and diverse redemption options with high reward rates. In addition, the Black, Korea’s first VVIP card, was introduced in 2005, creating a premium card market segment. This card is a limited-edition product available by invitation only and known to be used by global celebrities such as BLACKPINK’s Lisa, BTS’s Jin and actor Lee Jung-jae.
While GPCC drove Hyundai Card’s early business, PLCC has become the driving force behind its status as the first credit card company. Since introducing PLCC products in Korea in 2015, Hyundai Card has continuously expanded its partnerships with industry leaders across various industries, including aviation, automotive, retail, fashion and gaming. Currently, the company holds a dominant market share of 78% in terms of PLCC issuance, and the proportion of PLCC members of all members has rapidly grown from 10% in 2018 to 44%. The number of PLCC partners has increased to 19, including major domestic and international corporations representing each industry, such as Korean Air, Costco, Starbucks and Hyundai Motor Company.
Hyundai Card: The Forefront of Korea’s PLCC Business, Data Science as the Key to Success
Hyundai Card’s ability to excel in both GPCC and PLCC offerings stems from its clear understanding of the distinctions between the two and the implementation of a differentiated strategy from the very onset of its PLCC business. Ted Chung, CEO of Hyundai Card, famously likened GPCC and PLCC to standard and custom memory in the semiconductor industry, respectively. This analogy underscores their approach of delivering bespoke services tailored to each partner’s requirements, rather than offering standardized products. By adopting such an approach, Hyundai Card is promoting its PLCC business on a new foundation that challenges conventional frameworks in product development, IT systems and accounting processes.
Hyundai Card’s PLCC partnerships go beyond conventional co-branded cards, forming data alliances within Hyundai Card’s data and platform ecosystem. Through this model, Hyundai Card offers data and platform services to its partners while simultaneously expanding its membership base via the partners’ customer networks, creating a mutually beneficial structure.
Hyundai Card has established data alliances with major domestic and international brands through its PLCC initiatives. The entire data alliance network, which includes Hyundai Card and its 19 partners, boasts a membership of 290 million people and has facilitated about 3,000 collaborations between Hyundai Card and its partners, as well as among the partners themselves. These collaborations are powered by Hyundai Card’s prowess in data science and artificial intelligence (AI), showcasing a unique business model they have developed and refined while introducing PLCC to the Korean market. Unlike the predominantly retail-focused growth of PLCCs in the United States, Hyundai Card has successfully differentiated itself by expanding across more than 19 industries, including automotive, finance and beauty.
Hyundai Card has launched a hyper-personalized AI platform, UNIVERSE, based on its enhanced data science capabilities through the PLCC business. Additionally, the company became the first Korean financial company to export its platform to Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company (SMCC), one of Japan’s leading card companies. This involved rigorous compliance with Japanese financial regulations and successful localization, resulting in a milestone as the largest single software export transaction in Korean financial history.
GPCC: Hyundai Card’s Solid Foundation Bolstered by Leading Korean Branding
While the PLCC has shaped Hyundai Card’s future, GPCC remains the solid foundation that firmly upholds the company. An analysis of Hyundai Card’s 12 million members showed that despite PLCC’s rapid growth, the most used credit cards by Hyundai Card members were the representative GPCC products, Hyundai Card M and Hyundai Card ZERO. Additionally, the number of members holding Hyundai Card Premium Cards, a key component of GPCC, increased by 33% year-over-year in 2024, eight times the overall member growth rate. The continued growth of premium cards contributes to Hyundai Card’s acquisition of quality customers and recording the industry’s highest per capita usage.
While PLCC has grown by embracing loyal customers of partner companies, GPCC has been the driving force for Hyundai Card’s competitiveness. The support for GPCC’s growth has been Hyundai Card’s unrivaled branding capabilities. Hyundai Card has been the pioneer in establishing corporate branding.
Hyundai Card has pioneered a new era in Korean corporate branding through design, culture marketing and spatial marketing. The company developed Korea’s first corporate typeface, YouandI, and introduced the country’s first metal card, leveraging design to rapidly boost brand recognition despite being a late entrant in the industry. The company also created Super Concert, a signature performance brand featuring 27 world-class artists like Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Paul McCartney, Coldplay and Queen, drawing a total of 700,000 attendees. Additionally, its annual fall festival in Seoul’s Itaewon, Da Vinci MOTEL, invites icons from music, art, film, science and technology, blending diverse fields into a unique event. These efforts have made Hyundai Card a rare financial company with a dedicated fandom. The five libraries it operates, including Korea’s first design-focused Hyundai Card Design Library, have attracted 5.5 million visitors — equivalent to 10% of the nation’s population.
Hyundai Card’s innovative branding has been built and nurtured on the foundation of GPCC. New card plate designs were first applied to GPCC products, and benefits tied to cultural initiatives like Super Concert and the libraries were initially offered through GPCC cards. Hyundai Card owes its current standing to GPCC, and the PLCC business itself would not have taken off without the competitiveness and trust established through GPCC.
“Hyundai Card’s distinctive business model, which balances the growth of GPCC and PLCC, has enabled the company to lead Korea’s rapidly expanding credit card industry,” said a Hyundai Card representative. “This business model thrives because it’s built on a foundation of robust data science and branding capabilities underpinning both GPCC and PLCC products.”