Credit Card Companies Intensify Battle for 2nd Place... Market Share Fluctuates Back and Forth

Shinhan Card Unshakable No.1
Samsung, KB, Hyundai Card
Battle for 17% Market Share

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] The competition for second place among credit card companies is intensifying. In particular, Hyundai Card has expanded its market share by nearly 2% over the past two years, closely trailing Samsung and KB Kookmin Card.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's Financial Statistics Information System on the 31st, the gap in market share among the second-tier card companies narrowed to 0.6 percentage points in the fourth quarter of last year, based on the total credit sales amount (excluding corporate purchases, including individual and corporate) of seven specialized card companies (Shinhan, Samsung, KB Kookmin, Hyundai, Lotte, Woori, and Hana Card). Shinhan Card maintained its unshakable first place with a 21.46% share. It was followed by Samsung Card (17.93%), KB Kookmin Card (17.66%), and Hyundai Card (17.33%). While the difference between first and second place was 3.53 percentage points, the difference among the second-tier card companies was around 0.6 percentage points.

Hyundai Card's remarkable progress stood out. Hyundai Card increased its market share by 1.02 percentage points from the previous quarter, narrowing the gap with third-place KB Kookmin Card to 0.33 percentage points. The previous quarter's gap was 1.33 percentage points. Based on individual credit sales excluding corporate card performance, Hyundai Card rose to third place with a 17.69% share, surpassing KB Kookmin Card. This was a 0.6 percentage point increase from the previous quarter (17.09%). In terms of individual credit sales market share, Shinhan Card maintained first place with 22.30%, followed by Samsung Card (18.58%), Hyundai Card (17.69%), and KB Kookmin Card (17.34%).

Industry analysts attribute Hyundai Card's progress mainly to the expansion of its membership base centered on Private Label Credit Cards (PLCC). Hyundai Card has been expanding its membership by signing exclusive contracts with Costco and PLCC agreements with leading companies in various industries such as Korean Air, Starbucks, and Baedal Minjok. Additionally, as car sales increased last year, Hyundai Card, which has a high payment ratio for vehicle purchases, was advantageous in expanding its market share.

Samsung, KB Kookmin, and Hyundai Cards have been competing for the second place for several years. While the market share of first-place Shinhan Card has been gradually declining, the competition for market share among the second-tier card companies is becoming fierce. In the first quarter of last year, KB Kookmin Card surpassed Samsung Card for the first time in nine years to take second place in total credit sales market share through business diversification and membership expansion including corporate members, but Samsung Card immediately reclaimed the position in the second quarter, while Hyundai Card expanded its market share by nearly 1%, chasing the two companies.

Meanwhile, the gap in market share between medium-sized card companies such as Lotte, Woori, and Hana Card and the large card companies is widening. Lotte Card's market share in the fourth quarter of last year was 9.19%, down 0.15 percentage points from the previous quarter. Woori Card and Hana Card also recorded 8.89% and 7.54%, down 0.54 percentage points and 0.19 percentage points, respectively.

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