[Reporter’s Notebook] Card Companies Lamenting Their Role as "Big Tech Sidekicks" Must Turn the Tables with Data

Despite Data Collection Capabilities, Customer Touchpoints Lost to Big Tech

Unrealistic 'DSR Easing' Demands to Regulators Miss the Mark

Practical Survival Strategy Needed: Regulatory Relief for 'Small Business Data'

"Although credit card companies are often linked behind simple payment firms, the key point is that the customer touchpoint has shifted from the credit card company to the platform corporation. Credit card companies have now become mere payment infrastructure for 'Naver, Kakao, Toss, and Coupang.'"

Recently, representatives from big tech (large information technology firms), credit card companies, and academic experts have diagnosed that the battle for securing customer touchpoints—once the decisive battleground between big tech pay services and credit card companies—has effectively ended in victory for big tech. Customer touchpoints refer to metrics such as the monthly active users (MAU) and the amount of time spent on an application (app). As the era of the "super app," where customers handle all financial work on a single platform, has dawned, there is a self-deprecating sentiment that credit card companies have been relegated to mere supporting infrastructure.

However, experts analyze that the true competitive strength of the credit card industry lies precisely in the IT capabilities they have built as infrastructure providers. They argue that the only survival strategy is to combine generative artificial intelligence (AI) with MyData (personal credit information management) services to establish a unique business model exclusive to credit card companies. According to the Credit Finance Association, the number of monthly payment transactions conducted by credit card companies reached 12 billion as of 2024. At the center of this vast data set are 3,225,000 affiliated merchants (small business owners). According to the Financial Services Commission, 95.7% of these are small and medium-sized merchants that benefit from preferential fee rates.

Are credit card companies, then, making securing touchpoints with small business owners their top priority? Both industry and academia shake their heads. There is criticism that the strategies presented by the credit card industry to financial authorities are focused only on unrealistic directions, such as easing household loan regulations. Recently, the credit card industry has cited the relaxation of the "three-stage Stress Debt Service Ratio (DSR)" regulation on small-amount card loans as the top priority for the next president of the Credit Finance Association.

Experts advise that the credit card industry must actively pursue nationwide merchant data businesses and engage aggressively in communication with regulators. Why not try persuading the authorities by saying, "We are the right ones to realize inclusive finance for small business owners by providing services such as real-time analysis of merchant sales and revisit trends, suggesting effective promotion time slots, offering unsecured loans based on payment data, and providing alternative credit rating services based on fixed cost payment history"? Practical efforts are needed, such as pointing out the limitations of the sandbox system, which reverts regulations after the policy application period ends, and requesting progressive permission for ancillary and concurrent business related to data.

On the surface, the credit card industry laments that it has become a mere supporting actor for big tech, yet behind the scenes, it continues to repeat ineffective demands for regulatory easing. It is regrettable to see credit card companies failing to fully leverage their strongest weapon: "merchant IT services."

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