[1㎜ Financial Talk] Hyundai Card EV-Exclusive Product 'Ssingssing'... ESG Performance Also 'Soaring'

First Green Bond Issued in Financial Sector... Cumulative ESG Bonds Issued Total 1.6 Trillion Won
Support for Sales of 78,089 Eco-Friendly Vehicles... CO2 Reduced by 66,171 Tons

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] As the domestic automobile market experiences a 'green' boom led by electric vehicles (EVs), the issuance of EV-exclusive private label credit card (PLCC) products launched by Hyundai Card is rapidly increasing. With the growing popularity of eco-friendly cars, Hyundai Card's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) achievements also seem to be gaining momentum.

According to the financial sector on the 27th, the two EV-exclusive cards launched by Hyundai Card in collaboration with Hyundai Motor Company and Kia?'Hyundai EV Card' and 'Kia Members Electric Vehicle Credit Card'?have issued a total of 18,100 cards in the first half of this year. This achievement nearly matches the total issuance of both products for the entire previous year (18,600 cards) in just half a year.

Looking at each card, the Hyundai EV Card issued 11,400 cards in the first half of this year, approaching last year's total of 12,100 cards, while the Kia Members Electric Vehicle Credit Card issued 6,700 cards, surpassing last year's total of 6,500 cards. The average monthly issuance increased nearly twofold for the Hyundai EV Card, reaching 1,900 cards compared to 1,000 cards last year, and the Kia Members Electric Vehicle Credit Card also more than doubled to 1,100 cards from 500 cards last year.

Launched in April last year, the Hyundai EV Card accumulates 1.5% of the payment amount as 'Blue Members Points' when purchasing Hyundai electric or hydrogen vehicles, and offers up to 20,000 Blue Members Points per month for charging. The Kia Members Electric Vehicle Credit Card, launched in 2020, has a similar structure. It accumulates 1.5% of the payment amount as M Points when purchasing a new car and also grants 20,000 Kia Members Points. Additionally, it offers benefits that simultaneously accumulate 0.5% of card usage amounts as M Points and Kia Members Points.

The popularity of EV-exclusive products is attributed to Hyundai Motor Company and Kia designating last year as the 'first year of electrification' and launching numerous electrified models. From last year through this year, the dedicated electric vehicle models released by the two companies include the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, EV6, and GV60, while expanding to general electric vehicle models such as the G80 electrified model, GV70 electrified model, and Niro EV.

Along with the success of EV-exclusive products, Hyundai Card's ESG achievements are becoming visible. Hyundai Card was the first in the industry to issue a 240 billion KRW 'Green Bond' in 2019. Green Bonds are special-purpose bonds that limit the use of funds to investments in eco-friendly projects such as electric vehicles and renewable energy. Hyundai Card also issued Green Bonds worth 450 billion KRW each in 2020 and 2021. Including these, the cumulative ESG bond issuance has reached an industry-leading 1.64 trillion KRW.

The funds raised through Green Bonds and sustainable bonds have been used to provide financial services to customers purchasing eco-friendly vehicles such as electric, hydrogen, and hybrid cars sold by Hyundai Motor Company and Kia. Over the past four years, a total of 78,089 eco-friendly vehicles have been sold using Hyundai Card's ESG bond funds, and the estimated amount of CO2 reduction achieved through this is 66,171 tons.

For example, according to the third Green Bond post-issuance report published by Hyundai Card last year, the entire 450 billion KRW issuance was used to financially support eco-friendly vehicle customers (such as new car payment). By sales volume, the order was ▲Grandeur Hybrid (93.3 billion KRW, 3,676 units) ▲Sorento Hybrid (91.8 billion KRW, 3,731 units) ▲Ioniq 5 (41.9 billion KRW, 1,907 units), among others.

A Hyundai Card official stated, "With the launch of dedicated electric vehicle products, interest in eco-friendly cars has increased, leading to a rise in related card issuance and funding needs. Internally, after being the first in the industry to issue Green Bonds, we are also paying close attention to preventing greenwashing (where Green Bond issuers receive interest and tax benefits without fulfilling planned investments) by publicly disclosing the management system, verification, and post-issuance reports of Green Bonds."

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