Last Year, 151 Discontinued Credit Card Types... New Cards Double Increase

151 Discontinued Credit Cards in 2020
138 New Cards

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] Over 150 credit cards disappeared from the market last year. In contrast, newly launched credit cards nearly doubled compared to the previous year, creating a stark contrast.

According to the industry on the 8th, as of December 23 last year, 151 types of credit cards from seven full-service card companies (Shinhan, Samsung, KB Kookmin, Hyundai, Lotte, Woori, Hana) were discontinued. This number is close to the 160 types that disappeared the previous year.

The number of discontinued credit cards has been on the rise since 2017. In 2017, 73 types, in 2018, 82 types, and in 2019, 160 types were discontinued. Especially in 2019, the number of discontinued credit cards surged to twice that of the previous year.

The discontinuation trend continued last year, with popular cards disappearing. Representative examples include the 'Emart KB Kookmin Card,' which was popular as a "gulbi card" sharing performance and annual fees with other cards, the 'Payco X Lotte Card,' which could accumulate up to 300,000 points per month, and the 'KB Kookmin Tantan Dero Miz & Mister Titanium,' which was popular for offering up to 100,000 KRW discount per month.

On the other hand, newly issued credit cards increased significantly last year. During this period, 138 new credit cards were issued, more than double the 61 types from the previous year. This is the highest number in the past four years. The industry explains that the gap was noticeable because there were almost no new cards launched in the first half of the year due to delayed discussions on the 2019 card product profitability guidelines. The number of new credit cards was 135 in 2017, 109 in 2018, and 61 in 2019.

In fact, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) last year, many new cards targeting non-face-to-face consumption were launched. They included benefits for digital subscription services, delivery applications (apps), and online shopping. Representative examples are Shinhan Card Yei, Samsung TapTap Digital, KB Kookmin MyFit Card, Baemin Hyundai Card, Woori Card's Jeongseok Untact Air, and Hana Card's Everyone's Shopping. Mobile-only cards also appeared on the market one after another.

In the case of check cards, 44 types were discontinued and 37 types were newly launched last year. Compared to 2019, when 42 types were discontinued and 30 were newly launched, the number of discontinued cards decreased and new cards increased.

This year, it is expected to be difficult to launch cards with high-cost benefits. Since last year, a 'profitability analysis system guideline' has been introduced, allowing card companies to launch only products that can generate profits over the next five years through profitability analysis. Also, the planned reassessment of merchant card fees this year is expected to have an impact.

An industry official said, "When designing cards, profits and costs must be analyzed to maintain appropriate margins," adding, "If merchant fee rates are lowered, profitability will decline, inevitably affecting decisions on launching new cards and discontinuing existing ones."

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