SEOUL, March 31st, 2025: The Credit Finance Association of Korea reported that Hyundai Card secured the top position in credit sales among eight credit card companies in 2024, achieving credit sales totaling approximately KRW 166.3 trillion, an 11% increase compared to 2023. Hyundai Card, a leading financial and technology company in Korea, has received upgraded credit ratings from global credit rating agencies — Fitch, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), Moody’s, and the Japan Credit Rating Agency.
These agencies have highlighted Hyundai Card’s strong business ties with its parent company, Hyundai Motor Group, as a key factor in their favorable assessments. Additionally, the agencies have reflected the ongoing growth of the company’s credit card business and its advanced data science capabilities which have transformed it into a financial technology company.
Enhanced credit from global rating agencies
In February this year, Hyundai Card maintained its BBB+ Stable rating from Fitch, which was upgraded during last year’s evaluation. Fitch upgraded the rating from BBB Positive to BBB+ Stable in March 2024, followed by a similar upgrade from Standard & Poor’s (S&P) in August 2024. In March 2024, Moody’s affirmed Hyundai Card with the Baa1 issuer rating with a Stable outlook. Over the past several years, Hyundai Card has continuously increased its credit ratings from trusted global credit rating agencies.
The Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR) also raised Hyundai Card’s credit rating to AA- Stable in December 2024. Notably, just a year after it became the only Korean card company rated in Japan in November 2023, JCR aligned the credit level of Hyundai Card with that of its parent company, Hyundai Motor Group.
Balanced business growth between GPCC and PLCC
Unlike other prominent credit card companies, such as American Express and Synchrony, which have dominated the GPCC and PLCC sectors individually, Hyundai Card has been able to achieve success in both domains.
Hyundai Card provides a diverse array of services to a broader customer base through its flagship GPCC products, such as Hyundai Card M. Renowned for its customer-focused approach, Hyundai Card M stands out with its innovative M Points system, prioritizing the essentials of points accumulation. As a result, M Points have become Korea’s leading points program. Building on the success of the Black Card, Korea’s first VVIP card, Hyundai Card has expanded its lineup to include the Purple and the Red. Most recently, the company has made strides in the premium card segment by introducing the Green and the Pink, designed to target younger consumers.
Since its introduction in 2015, Hyundai Card has steadily grown its PLCC partnerships, providing tailored benefits through collaborations with top industry leaders. The company continues to build strong alliances with both domestic and international businesses across various sectors, including aviation, automotive, retail, food and beverage, internet portals, fashion, gaming, finance, and entertainment. Notably, the company has fostered a data alliance among its PLCC partners, enabling shared data analysis, strategic insight utilization and collaborative marketing efforts.
Conversely, other Korean credit card companies have struggled to grow their PLCC partnerships to the level achieved by Hyundai Card. While many credit card issuers have ventured into the PLCC market to challenge Hyundai Card’s business model, they have seen limited success. Hyundai Card stands as the leading issuer of PLCCs in Korea, commanding a dominant 78% market share. Additionally, its proportion of PLCC members has seen a remarkable rise, climbing from 10% in 2018 to 44% in 2025.
The well-balanced growth of GPCC and PLCC is the factor that strongly supports Hyundai Card’s sustainable growth. In July 2024, the number of Hyundai Card cardholders exceeded 12 million. This represents the highest growth rate among Korean card issuers, occurring within a mere two years and eight months after reaching the milestone of 10 million cardholders at the end of 2021.
Data science as a pillar of GPCC and PLCC business
Hyundai Card’s balanced growth in both the GPCC and PLCC businesses can be attributed to its data science capabilities. In an unprecedented move within the global financial sector, Hyundai Card has invested KRW 1 trillion over the past decade to develop data science and AI capabilities. This investment resulted in Korea’s largest software export deal. In October 2024, the company secured a contract to export UNIVERSE to SMCC (Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company), one of Japan’s top three credit card companies. This agreement represents the largest single software export in Korean history and marks the first software export from the Korean financial industry.
UNIVERSE is a hyper-personalized AI platform based on Hyundai Card’s proprietary data science expertise and technology. It predicts individual customer behavior, preferences and conditions through “tags” that structure data, enabling direct customer targeting. This platform can be applied across all business areas, regardless of industry. Internal tests results showed that by utilizing UNIVERSE, targeted marketing campaigns resulted in being 6 times more efficient than before.
With the help of UNIVERSE, Hyundai Card can predict and analyze customer spending patterns using data defining and structuring systems, along with AI. With data science-based technology, Hyundai Card is actively involved in various business collaborations within the data alliance of its PLCC partners. Following the successful export of Hyundai Card’s AI platform to the rigorous Japanese market, inquiries for UNIVERSE are increasing globally, including in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
Strong business ties with Hyundai Motor Group
Global credit rating agencies have emphasized the strategic business ties between Hyundai Card and Hyundai Motor Group. Fitch noted that Hyundai Card plays a significant role in supporting the group’s domestic retail passenger vehicle sales by providing credit purchase services, which account for 40%-45% of the sales amount. In addition, Hyundai Card collaborates with the group on business opportunities such as ICP (in-car payment) solutions.
In August 2024, S&P raised Hyundai Card’s credit rating to BBB+, expecting that the company would maintain a pivotal role in Hyundai Motor Company and Kia’s new car sales strategy. S&P highlighted that Hyundai Card’s strategy is closely aligned with the group’s long-term vision of developing an in-car payment system using credit cards, in addition to the launch of a PLCC (Private Label Credit Card) with Hyundai Motor Company and Kia. Similarly, JCR provided a favorable outlook, emphasizing the robust business cooperation.
Robust financial soundness and proactive risk management
Another strength, noted by global rating agencies, is Hyundai Card’s solid financial soundness and proactive risk management capabilities. Despite the challenging economic and financial environment in Korea — marked by persistently high interest rates, inflation, and slow growth — Hyundai Card proactively seeks external credit ratings. This pursuit reflects the company’s confidence in its financial standing and comprehensive risk management practices.
Despite the challenges faced by many credit card companies in Korea in maintaining stability due to rising funding costs, Hyundai Card has distinguished itself through its exceptional risk management capabilities, consistently upholding industry-leading financial soundness. Impressively, the company has continued to achieve the industry’s lowest delinquency rates of 0.89% in 2021, 0.89% in 2022, and 0.63% in 2023 (delinquency rate based on 30 days).
Pursuing capital raising abroad
Hyundai Card is leveraging its improved credit ratings from leading global rating agencies to seek capital in the global capital market. The ratings from three most reputable global agencies and Japan’s JCR serve as crucial benchmarks for institutional investors when evaluating and analyzing companies.
A representative from Hyundai Card stated, “With objective evaluations from global rating agencies, we anticipate more stable capital acquisition in international markets, particularly through the issuance of foreign currency bonds, which may lead to a reduction in funding costs. We aim to leverage these favorable ratings as a foundation for future expansion in the global business arena.