Private label credit cards boost Hyundai Card's competitiveness

By Kim Bo-eun

Hyundai Card's private label credit cards (PLCCs) / Courtesy of Hyundai Card

Hyundai Card's focus on private label credit cards (PLCCs) has boosted the firm's competitiveness amid tough market conditions.

PLCCs are store branded cards intended for use at a specific store, offering loyalty awards or benefits for customers. Hyundai Card has issued a series of them with partners including Costco, eBay and Emart.

PLCCs enable card issuers to share costs with the partnering firm. They also share profits.

For card firms, this is a way to bring down costs, attract customers of the partner firm and also seek new opportunities in data sharing with the companies.

For example, with a retailer, a card firm can access data on customer purchases. Card firms have limited data on transactions that retailers can expand on ― what, where and when customers made purchases ― enabling the companies to identify purchasing patterns.

Card firms can then provide customized services, such as discount coupons based on purchase data.

Partner firms, on the other hand, are able to raise brand awareness and expand their "loyal customer base" through marketing provided by the card firms.

Last year, Hyundai Card expanded its PLCC division to strategically focus on the business, based on its success with cards launched in recent years.

Hyundai's PLCC with eBay Korea attracted 420,000 customers within a year of its launch in May 2018. As of January, the card had 700,000 users.

Hyundai Card plans to issue a PLCC in the coming months, based on its partnership with Korean Air.

“We plan to go beyond simply providing a means of payment, to build a close partnership with firms in a variety of sectors including marketing and data science,” a Hyundai Card official said.

"Our aim is to provide the highest level of tailor-made services for customers, based on our experience with PLCCs.”