"Can't Endure Anymore" Card Recruiters, 1,048 People Quit in Two Months

Direct Hit to Business from Prolonged COVID-19
Card Companies Change Online Sales Channels
Loss of Allowances Due to Reduced Face-to-Face Sales
Livelihood Threatened as Contracts End One After Another

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] It has been revealed that over 1,000 credit card solicitors quit their jobs during the two months in the second half of this year. This is interpreted as livelihood-type workers, who barely continued their sales activities relying on the long-term COVID-19 pandemic and one-time support from card companies, giving up due to changes in card companies' sales strategies amid the prolonged COVID-19 situation.

According to the industry on the 18th, as of August, the number of credit card solicitors at seven specialized card companies (Shinhan, Samsung, KB Kookmin, Hyundai, Lotte, Woori, and Hana Card) was counted at 10,655.

In the first half of this year alone, the number was 11,703, an increase of 321 compared to the end of the previous year, but the trend sharply changed in the second half. Over the two months of July and August, 1,048 people decreased. Compared to the end of the previous year, it decreased by 727.

An industry official said, "Despite the impact of COVID-19, credit card solicitors who barely continued their sales activities in the first half due to support policies from card companies seem to have quit their jobs as they felt difficulties in making a living due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. The change in card companies' sales channel strategies, such as expanding online channels and increasing the use of branches or affiliated solicitors, also appears to have influenced this."

In fact, as of the first half of this year, the proportion of credit card applications through online channels at the seven specialized card companies was 37.9%. This is an increase of 11.3 percentage points from 26.6% at the end of last year. Considering that the online channel issuance ratio was 17.8% in 2018, the increase over the past year was surpassed in the first half of this year.

The number of card solicitors has been on a downward trend since 2017 due to the increase in non-face-to-face issuance and cost-cutting caused by the deterioration of card companies' profitability. The number of card solicitors, which reached 22,872 in 2016, decreased to 16,658 in 2017, 12,607 in 2018, and 11,382 in 2019.

Especially this year, it is analyzed that the direct hit to sales activities caused by COVID-19 had a significant impact. Card solicitors mainly conduct sales in crowded multi-use facilities such as department stores, large marts, and movie theaters, but due to COVID-19, people avoided face-to-face contact, making sales activities themselves difficult.

Card Solicitors Face Livelihood Threat as Sales Halt Due to COVID-19

Card solicitors are freelancers affiliated with credit card companies. Since they receive almost no base salary and earn through solicitation commissions, they inevitably face livelihood threats if they cannot conduct sales.

For this reason, card companies temporarily supported card solicitors who faced livelihood difficulties during the COVID-19 spread in March. They provided one-time incentives or compensated 100% of income even if productivity reached only 80% to help maintain income.

However, since income compensation for card solicitors is not an obligation for card companies, support is provided on a one-time basis when necessary. As social distancing was raised to level 2.5 due to the second wave of COVID-19 this month, making face-to-face sales difficult, card companies have been extending application periods or changing minimum payment criteria to provide support.

The card solicitor exam has also been replaced by online education since March. As it became difficult to hold qualification exams with large numbers of people due to COVID-19, the Credit Finance Association has temporarily operated offline exams replaced by additional online education.

Originally, offline exams were planned to resume in October, but the Credit Finance Association has stated that it will decide on resuming offline exams based on the future trend of COVID-19 spread.

A representative from Card Company A said, "Compared to insurance planners, card solicitors have a relatively high proportion of livelihood-type workers," adding, "They were greatly affected by the inability to conduct face-to-face sales due to COVID-19."

A representative from Card Company B said, "Although the proportion of cards issued online is increasing, the share of new issuances through card solicitors still reaches 70%," and predicted, "Therefore, it seems difficult for the number of card solicitors to fall below 10,000."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.