KB Card chief looks to collegians as targets

By Kim Jae-won

New KB Kookmin Card CEO Choi Gi-eui said Wednesday the credit card company aims to be No. 1 by market share in the local debit card industry at his first press conference.

Choi said the credit card spinoff from KB Financial Group will seek to take the top place in the selective market attracting more college student customers.

KB Kookmin Card was separated from Kookmin Bank three weeks ago as part of KB Financial Chairman Euh Yoon-dae’s overhaul strategies to boost competitiveness.

“We can be No. 1 in the check card market. We have a high portion of check card users compared to our competitors,” he said. “Koomin Bank’s Rock Star Zone will help us achieve this goal.”

Check card is a term used in Korea that refers to a debit card. Rock Star Zone is a college student-specialized branch, which Kookmin Bank established near campuses last month.

Currently, Kookmin Card is ranked the third in the debit card market. Nonghyup leads the market followed by Shinhan Card.

The former Kookmin Bank chief strategist said he will attract new customers with a product, which gives incentives for mortgage customers.

“We will discount up to 500,000 won for Kookmin Bank mortgage customers. They can pay back with points, which they can collect using our credit card.”

The CEO said to achieve these goals, he will change its office culture. He suggested five concepts with initials of KB Card.

“We set five rules, which borrowed from our company’s initials. Keep Basic rules, Concentrate on working, Affection for family, Refresh yourself, and Dress comfortably.”

However, the credit card service company seemed to neglect expats customers here, who suffer from being issued new credit cards.

An executive of the company said it was inevitable for expats to be treated differently from Korean customers due to risk management problems.

“We have to think about risk management problems with expats. We are considering solving the problem, but do not have any solutions yet,” said Jeong Seong-ho, senior director of the company.