Hana Card expands partnerships with other businesses for growth

[Courtesy of Hana Card Co.]

South Korea’s Hana Card Co. is expanding partnerships with companies from other sectors in hopes of creating a new revenue source amid declining commissions and rising delinquency rates.

According to sources from the financial sector on Sunday, Hana Card plans to newly introduce co-branded credit cards in partnerships with Korean Air Lines Co., Coupang Inc., and Toss Bank.

Hana Card will upgrade its hit Travlog card in collaboration with Korean Air. Given Travlog‘s success with its services tailored to overseas travel, the company aims to enhance services related to international travel by partnering with Korean Air.

The Korean Air Travlog Card, which will be launched as a private label credit card (PLCC), will maximize Korean Air mileage benefits, allowing users to accumulate miles for their next trip while enjoying their current travels.

For customer convenience, the new card will be a hybrid type that can be used as a credit card at home and as both a credit and debit card overseas.

Users can accumulate Korean Air miles through credit card purchases and enjoy free currency exchange services abroad, similar to the existing Travlog card.

It will also be a premium card with a higher rate of Korean Air mileage accrual in exchange for a higher annual fee than the existing card.

Hana Card is also partnering with e-commerce giant Coupang to introduce financial services for small businesses and other Coupang marketplace sellers who are currently facing challenges.

Sellers tend to wait up to 60 days to receive payment after selling their products. The Hana-Coupang Card will provide financial services using receivables as collateral, allowing Coupang sellers to receive payments more quickly.

With Toss Bank, Hana Card aims to attract younger customers by offering exclusive discount benefits for bank clients.

A new PLCC is set to be launched this month, offering discounts, cashback, and various specialized services at popular stores frequently used by Toss Bank customers.

The two companies have completed product development and are finalizing its launch.

Toss Bank has been forming partnerships with major card companies affiliated with domestic banking groups, such as Shinhan Card and Hana Card.

This trend allows the app-based bank to enter the card business, leveraging its strong young customer base, while the affiliated bank card companies expand their customer reach.

Internet banks, which have many loan customers, provide a new target customer group for card companies due to the generally guaranteed creditworthiness of their clients.

Big tech and consumer-related companies with high consumer accessibility are also key potential partners for card companies, as they can minimize recruitment costs and ensure successful product launches.

“Recent successes of services like free currency exchange created in collaboration with banks are acting as catalysts for these cross-industry partnerships,” said Seo Ji-yong, a professor at Sangmyung University. “From the perspective of big tech companies, partnerships allow them to utilize card companies’ payment infrastructure, creating a win-win strategy.”

Thanks to its success with Travlog card, Hana Card saw its net profit jump 165 percent to 53.5 billion won ($38.84 million) in the first quarter of this year from 20.2 billion won in the same period last year.