"This Year is 'Consumer'... BC Card Strengthens Consumer Market Strategy"

Corporate Shift Toward Consumer-Centric Approach
Increase in Proprietary Card Launches and Strengthening of Lifestyle Finance Platforms Expected

Choi Won-seok, President of BC Card

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] BC Card is strengthening its business operation system centered on consumers this year. It is undergoing a transformation from a payment processing agent to focusing on consumers within enterprises. Following last year, the launch of proprietary cards is expected to be active again this year.

According to BC Card on the 10th, a new organization was established within the existing Card Business Headquarters to enhance the competitiveness and marketing of BC's proprietary card products through a recent organizational restructuring. Additionally, a new research organization called the New Financial Research Institute, focused on media and government relations, was created to expand the financial information provided to customers, the media, and financial authorities.

This is interpreted as BC Card's move to actively target the consumer market beyond payment processing. Since last year, BC Card has been consecutively launching its own credit cards. Starting with the 'K-Bank Simple Card,' a private label credit card (PLCC) launched in partnership with K-Bank, it has introduced cards such as the 'BLACKPINK Card,' 'Sibal (始發) Card,' and 'Individual Card' to the market. Within the first quarter of this year, the MMORPG Lost Ark PLCC by Smilegate RPG is also scheduled to be released.

Behind BC Card's changes lies the urgency to improve performance by diversifying its business structure, which has been heavily focused on payment processing. As of the third quarter of last year, BC Card's acquiring business revenue accounted for 88.1% of total revenue. Card companies that previously used BC Card's payment network have started to build their own infrastructure independently, inevitably leading to a decline in profitability. In particular, Woori Card, which accounts for 37% of the total acquiring business revenue, will begin full-scale independent merchant network construction starting next month.

BC Card's number of individual members and credit card issuances are also showing a downward trend. In the third quarter of last year, BC Card issued 47,113,000 credit cards, a decrease of 1,615 cards compared to the end of the previous year. During the same period, the number of individual members was 30,860, down by 1,715.

Choi Won-seok, President of BC Card, also expressed his determination through a recent social media (SNS) 'BC Employee Town Hall Meeting,' stating, "This year, we will expand new payment markets and foster a lifestyle financial platform."

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