[Gi Ha-yeong's Life Card] Receive Various Card Points as Money into One Account

Financial Services Commission to Launch Unified Cash Conversion Service for Credit Card Points in October
Following 1-Won Unit Cash Conversion, Bulk Account Transfers Expected to Become Available

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young]Is there anyone these days without at least one credit card? In modern society, anyone can have a card if they want. Credit cards have brought unparalleled convenience to daily life. Now, wherever you go, you can easily see people paying with credit cards or smartphones. As demand has increased, cards with various benefits are being released almost daily. In response, Asia Economy delivers diverse stories related to cards, which are inseparable from our consumer life, through the weekly 'Cards in Daily Life' corner, including introductions to new cards, industry behind-the-scenes, and guides for card beginners.

My Shinhan Points 2,358 won, Hyundai Card M Points 4,560 won, Hana Money 780 won.

This October, a service will be launched that allows you to convert multiple card points scattered across different cards into cash at once and transfer them to your desired account.

The Financial Services Commission announced this on the 2nd in the '2020 Financial Industry Innovation Policy Implementation Plan.' Currently, you can only use the integrated card point inquiry function by card company through FIN's 'Card Point Inquiry' or the Credit Finance Association's inquiry system. Starting this October, a function will be added to collect the card points checked through these systems and transfer them all at once to the account designated by the consumer.

The financial authorities and the card industry revised the standard terms and conditions in October 2018 to allow cash conversion of points down to the 1-won unit. Although the amount of points accumulated from credit card use has increased every year, the amount of points expiring has also increased. The validity period of card points is generally five years.

According to data received by Kim Byung-wook, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Financial Supervisory Service last September, about 100 billion won worth of card points disappear every year. The expired points of the eight full-service card companies (Shinhan, Samsung, KB Kookmin, Hyundai, Lotte, Woori, Hana, BC) were 115.1 billion won in 2017 and 102.4 billion won in 2018. As of the first half of last year, 49.9 billion won worth of points were unused and disappeared.

Despite the cash conversion of points down to the 1-won unit, the actual amount used as cash has not increased significantly. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the eight full-service card companies converted an average of 7.748 billion won worth of points into cash monthly over 11 months from October 2018, when the point cash conversion system was implemented, to August 2019. Compared to September 2018 (5.821 billion won), before the 1-won unit cash conversion was implemented, this is only an increase of about 1.9 billion won per month.

Judging that the effectiveness was low, the Financial Services Commission introduced not only 1-won unit cash conversion but also a bulk account transfer service to allow consumers to use their card points more conveniently.

The bulk card point cash conversion service is scheduled to start in October, but even now, each card company allows you to convert points into cash. By applying through the card company's website, mobile application (app), or call center number on the back of the card, you can convert from 1 point into cash and have it deposited into your own account. For cards affiliated with commercial banks, ATM withdrawals are possible in units of 10,000 won. Since it is deposited as soon as you apply, why not check your card points today?