Did Apple Pay Have an Effect... Card Companies 'Nervous' Over Hyundai Card's Popularity

Rising Interest in Hyundai Card... Rapid Increase in Membership Numbers

Attention is focused on Hyundai Card, which first launched Apple's contactless easy payment service 'Apple Pay.' Last year, it saw the steepest increase in membership, and it is expected to climb even higher in the rankings this year along with Apple Pay.

According to the ranking based on the number of product views and application conversions from the 1st to the 27th of this month, compiled by domestic credit card platform Card Gorilla on the 28th, 'Hyundai Card Zero Edition 2 (Discount Type)' and 'Hyundai Card M Boost' ranked 9th and 10th respectively. This is the first time Hyundai Card products have entered the top 10 since November last year. Since Apple Pay was officially launched in the latter part of this month, interest is expected to grow further.

Hyundai Card already benefited from Apple Pay last year. According to the Credit Finance Association, Hyundai Card dominated the monthly net increase in individual members among the seven major full-service card companies?Shinhan, Samsung, KB Kookmin, Hyundai, Lotte, Woori, and Hana?from May to December last year. This is interpreted as anticipation acting even before the official launch of Apple Pay in Korea. In October last year alone, Hyundai Card increased its members by 106,000, more than double the second-highest KB Kookmin Card’s 48,000. October last year was when the outline of Apple Pay’s domestic launch became clear. At that time, Citibank Securities also issued a 'sell' opinion on Kakao Pay, citing the domestic launch of Apple Pay as a basis.

Hyundai Card has maintained the top spot in net member increase for eight consecutive months, significantly narrowing the gap with KB Kookmin Card, which ranks third in membership. As of April last year, KB Kookmin Card had 318,000 more members, but by the end of last year, this gap had narrowed to 141,000. In January this year, the difference further decreased to 126,000. This is about one-third of the gap of 368,000 members recorded in December 2021.

Last month, KB Kookmin Card regained the top spot in net member increase after about 10 months since April last year by adding 63,000 members, but there are forecasts that the gap may narrow again following the launch of Apple Pay. There is a noticeable trend of many people deliberately issuing Hyundai Cards to experience Apple Pay. Earlier, Card Gorilla surveyed 2,082 people from the 6th to the 15th of last month about which card they would use for Apple Pay, and 6 out of 10 respondents chose 'Hyundai Card.' 57% (1,187 votes) answered that they would use Apple Pay first with 'Hyundai Card (including new issuance),' while only 30.7% (640 votes) said they would 'wait until they can use other company cards.'

An official from a major card company said, "Although not openly expressed, there is a tense atmosphere watching Hyundai Card, which is backed by Apple Pay," adding, "However, since Apple charges a fee per transaction and financial authorities have stipulated that this should not be passed on to consumers, we are carefully observing Hyundai Card’s moves."