Hyundai Card
Hyundai Card (Korean: 현대카드; RR: Hyeondae Kadeu) is a credit card company under Hyundai Motor Group headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. In 2001, Hyundai Motor Group acquired Diners Club Korea, and relaunched it under the name Hyundai Card.
Overview
Hyundai Card (Korean: 현대카드; RR: Hyeondae Kadeu) is a credit card company under Hyundai Motor Group headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. In 2001, Hyundai Motor Group acquired Diners Club Korea, and relaunched it under the name Hyundai Card. As of November 2022, the company has 10 million primary card members.
History
In October 2001, Hyundai Motor Group acquired Diners Club Korea and changed its name to Hyundai Card Co., Ltd. In 2003, they launched the Hyundai Card M which offered discounts of up to ₩500,000 (2006) (equivalent to ₩766,319.74 or US$571.76 in 2025) to members when purchasing a Hyundai or Kia vehicle. By 2009, the Hyundai Card M had more than 6 million members. Hyundai Card released Korea's first premium credit card, "the Black", in 2005. In July 2013, the company announced “Hyundai Card Chapter Two,” which allowed consumers to use their point mileage and cashback more freely if they met with a certain usage threshold. In October 2015, the company launched the "Digital Hyundai Card" project which expanded online services for card members. 2015 saw the launch of Hyundai Card's first private label credit card (PLCC). They have since introduced partnerships with more than 11 brands including convenience store chain Emart, Hyundai Motor, eBay Korea, Costco, Korean Air, Starbucks, Naver and fashion commerce platform Musinsa. Their PLCC with eBay Korea acquired 420,000 customers within a year, gaining 700,000 users by January 2020. As of the end of 2020, Hyundai Card had 8.9 million credit cardholders, and posted KRW 12.2 trillion in credit purchase volume. The company is spurring global expansion with its first overseas branch in Tokyo in August, 2020. As of April 2021, Hyundai Card has 9.15 million credit cardholders. In March 2023, the company introduced Apple Pay for the first time in South Korea. The following month, Hyundai Card gained 335,000 new members, up 156% from the same period the previous year.
Investments
In 2005, General Electric Consumer Finance (also known as GE Capital) invested ₩678.3 billion (2005) (equivalent to ₩1.06 trillion or US$793.05 million in 2025) into the credit card company. However, in 2017, they sold their 43% stake, equating to 69 million shares. Hyundai Commercial bought 30.5 million shares for ₩298 billion (US$222.34 million) making them the 2nd largest shareholder after Hyundai Motor (37%). The remainder was bought by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, and two private equity firms: Hong-Kong based Affinity Equity Partners & Amsterdam-based AlpInvest. Then, in 2021, AlpInvest, Affinity Equity Partners and GIC all sold their stakes to Taiwan-based Fubon Financial, reportedly due to the sluggish progress of its initial public offering (IPO). In 2022, Fubon Financial increased their ownership of Hyundai Card to 19.98%.
Controversies
In August 2017, Hyundai Card held an Ariana Grande concert and was criticized for their handling of the US artist's performance. She arrived in Korea just 3 hours before the start of the concert, meaning there was no meet-and-greet or pre-show rehearsal which fans had paid up to ₩650,000 (US$484.97) to see. Grande was also the target of online ire due to her apparent indifferent attitude towards her Korean fans. The concert came just months after the Manchester Arena bombing, in which 22 fans died in a terrorist attack at one of her UK performances. The Hyundai Card CEO released a statement criticising Grande, stating her actions left "much to be desired" and that "[Grande] arriving right before the concert and leaving immediately, avoiding the press has left the impression as if the concert itself was mechanical". In 2023, the card company organized a Bruno Mars concert in Seoul and received backlash from concertgoers for supposedly giving preferential treatment to celebrities. It was speculated that celebrities, such as members of BTS and BLACKPINK, were given free front-row seats. An apology was issued by Hyundai Card Vice Chairman, promising to "pay closer attention to these matters".
Products
The company also simplified its credit card portfolio by categorizing products into two in terms of the types of customer rewards ─ points and discounts. Its points-focused card series include M·M2·M3 BOOST, T3, and ZERO·ZERO MOBILE. Meanwhile, its discounts-focused products include X·X2·X3 BOOST, DIGITAL LOVER, and ZERO·ZERO MOBILE. In April 2021, Hyundai Card launched Z Series which consist of three types of cards – Z Family, Z Work and Z Ontact – depending on the areas the cards offer heavy discounts.
Premium Card
2005 - the Black 2006 - the Purple 2008 - the Red 2018 - the Green 2020 - the Pink
Point Card
M·M2·M3 BOOST, T3, ZERO·ZERO MOBILE Edition2 (points-focused)
Discount Card
X·X2·X3 BOOST, DIGITAL LOVER, ZERO·ZERO MOBILE Edition2 (discounts-focused)
Z Card
Z family, Z work, Z ontact
Private Label Credit Card (PLCC)
American Express Green/Gold/Platinum, MUSINSA Hyundai Card, Socar Hyundai Card, Baemin Hyundai Card, Starbucks Hyundai Card, Korean Air Hyundai Card, GS Caltex Hyundai Card, SSG.COM Hyundai Card, Emart eCard, Costco Reward Hyundai Card, Hyundai BLUEmembers Card, Kia Members Card, Genesis Hyundai Card, Smile Card (eBay)
Company Slogan
Strategy + Execution: There can be no execution without strategy and no strategy without execution. Speed: Speed is the only variable separating winners and losers in the final match. Never-ending Change: Existence requires continuous change. Diverse yet United: Top-level organizations are built upon diverse elements working together in tandem.
Digital Transformation Hyundai Card
“Digital Hyundai Card” is a service provided through smartphone application offering customers with a more convenient and secure way to use a credit card.
Wikipedia contributors · Hyundai Card · revision 1378248062 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Plain text extracted and formatting adapted; tags derived from linked topics.