Hanacard Expands 'Travelog' Currency Options to 41 Types Starting April

15 Additional Species Including South Africa, Egypt, and Brazil Added to Existing 26 Species

Hanacard announced on the 28th that starting from the 1st of next month, the number of currencies available for use with ‘Travelog’ will be expanded from the existing 26 to 41.

Travelog is an overseas travel service available worldwide without payment or withdrawal fees using the Travelog card after free currency exchange through the Hana Money application. It allows real-time currency exchange 24/7 via mobile at the desired ‘exchange rate’ and ‘timing’. From travel savings, currency exchange, payment, to insurance, it offers a one-stop solution for everything from preparation to completion of overseas travel. The number of subscribers surpassed 4 million last month.

Fifteen currencies including South African Rand, Brazilian Real, and Egyptian Pound have been added to the existing 26. Preferential exchange rates of 100% (free currency exchange) are provided for all 41 currencies, including major currencies (Dollar, Yen, Euro, Pound) and others. According to statistics from the Credit Finance Association, as of February, Hanacard’s overseas check card market share recorded 40.2%. Since becoming the number one in overseas check card market share in January last year, it has maintained the top position for 14 consecutive months. Compared to June 2022 before the launch of Travelog, the usage amount of overseas check cards has tripled, and the market share has increased by 20 percentage points.

Meanwhile, an analysis of Travelog user patterns and travel trends showed that the countries most traveled to last year were Japan, Vietnam, the United States, France, and Thailand in that order. During the last winter season (December 2023 to February 2024), the cities with the most visitors were Tokyo, Otaru, Osaka, Fukuoka, and Chiba, all Japanese cities. This is interpreted as being greatly influenced by geographical accessibility and exchange rate advantages due to the weak yen.

The age distribution of Travelog users is also interesting. Among all users, about 70% were from the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), and among them, 46% had experience traveling to Japan. Tokyo, Otaru, and Osaka were popular. For the MZ generation, the proportions of Japan, France, and the UK were high, while seniors showed a higher proportion of Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam and Thailand. Based on Travelog data, the predicted popular overseas travel destinations for this spring season are Italy, France, the United States, Singapore, and the UK in that order.

Lee Seok, Head of Hanacard’s Digital Global Group, said, “Travelog continues to innovate in line with customers’ expectations this year,” adding, “We will establish it as the national representative overseas travel service through lineup expansion with new product launches and the release of ‘Simple Mode’ in the future.”