Major card firms jump into mobile market

Mobile card boosts Hana-SK Card sales


The nation’s major card companies are jumping into the mobile card market as customer demand rises, financial sources said Monday.

The companies are forecasting that plastic credit cards will be replaced with mobile cards in the next two to three years following the expansion of smartphones, the sources said.

The fast growth of the newcomer Hana-SK Card, which has been pioneering the mobile card business here, may support the assumption. Hana-SK Card, which was launched in 2000, is a joint credit card venture between the mobile carrier SK Telecom and Hana Financial Group. 

Last year, mobile card sales of Hana-SK Card skyrocketed 12-fold, according to news reports. Hana-SK Card posted 12 billion won ($10.6 million) in mobile card sales last year compared to 1 billion won in 2010.

The number of customers using the company’s mobile cards also increased four-fold from 50,000 in 2010 to 180,000 last year.

By the first half this year, Hana-SK Card’s mobile card sales had already matched the company’s total sales in the sector last year. By the end of the year, mobile card sales are expected to reach 40 billion won to 50 billion won.

“More customers are asking for mobile cards, following the wide use of smartphones. We expect that the sales will reach 4 billion won in July alone and probably 10 billion won per month by the end of the year,” said an official at Hana-SK Card.

About 700,000 mobile cards have been issued throughout the nation so far, most of them by Hana-SK Card.

But Shinhan Card, the market leader in plastic credit cards, is right on the heels of Hana-SK Card. It has issued over 300,000 mobile cards this year. The company is seeking ways to top the mobile card category as well by organizing a task force, strengthening cooperation with mobile carrier LG Uplus, targeting the mobile commerce market and pushing for joint marketing platform businesses.

It also kicked off the “Shinhan Smart Wallet” service which provides coupons from various credit card companies and mobile carriers through a single smartphone application.

Meanwhile, BC Card recently brought Lee Kang-tae, former Hana-SK Card chief, on board to put more emphasis on its mobile card business and Hyundai Card plans to expand its mobile card business which is currently limited to Android smartphones. Lotte Card and KB Kookmin Card are known to be reviewing the market as well. 

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldcorp.com)