In One Year, Doubled... Average Annual Fee of Credit Cards Released in the First Half Hits 83,000 Won

Impact of the Increase in Premium Card Launches

The average annual fee of major credit cards released in the first half of this year more than doubled compared to last year.

On the 3rd, Card Gorilla, the largest credit card platform in Korea, surveyed 59 types of credit cards released in the first half of the year based on registered individual member cards (excluding cards issued under specific conditions such as simple design additions and VVIP cards). The average annual fee was found to be 83,453 KRW. This is a 119% increase compared to the average annual fee of 38,171 KRW for 76 major credit cards released last year.

This is attributed to the increased release of premium cards compared to last year. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the annual fee revenue of full-service card companies such as Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Samsung, Lotte, Hyundai, Hana, Woori, and BC in the first quarter of this year was 316 billion KRW, a 6.6% increase compared to the same period last year.

In fact, there were a total of 10 new credit cards with annual fees of 100,000 KRW or more in the first half of this year, more than the 7 types released last year. While the annual fees of premium cards released last year ranged from 100,000 to 500,000 KRW, the premium cards released in the first half of this year mainly start from the 200,000 KRW range and go up to the 800,000 KRW range. The card company that released the most premium cards is KB Kookmin Card, which launched a new premium lineup called 'Heritage' earlier this year.

The most common benefit type was the ‘discount/cashback’ type, accounting for 59.3% (35 types). For point accumulation cards, there were 20 types (33.9%), and mileage cards accounted for only 4 types (6.8%). The most frequently used international brand was ‘Mastercard,’ with 34 out of 59 major credit cards released in the first half of this year (57.6%) issued under the Mastercard brand. The ‘Visa’ brand accounted for 24 types (40.7%), the ‘Amex’ brand for 8 types (13.6%), and JCB and UnionPay were each featured on 2 types (3.4%) of cards.

Go Seung-hoon, CEO of Card Gorilla, said, "Value consumption and personalized consumption for oneself are trending, and as demand for shopping and overseas travel increases, premium cards seem to have become one way to express oneself." He added, "Due to issues such as deteriorating profitability and cost reduction, card companies are expected to actively launch and renew premium card lineups for the time being."

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