Shinhan Card joins hands with E9pay to launch credit card for foreigners

(Shinhan Card)

South Korea’s Shinhan Card Co. announced on Thursday that it has formed a strategic partnership with E9pay to launch a credit card for foreigners residing in the country.

The E9pay Shinhan Card Cheoum supports product information in 16 languages and allows foreign customers to receive the card 24/7 at GS25 convenience stores nationwide through the GS25 pickup service.

E9pay is a leading fintech company in the overseas remittance sector.

Shinhan Card has significantly eased the eligibility criteria for foreigners.

Previously, card issuance required personally owned real estate to exceed a certain officially assessed value, but now it is sufficient to simply own real estate.

In terms of financial assets, the requirement has also been lowered from a fixed balance of over 50 million won ($36,325) to a transaction history of at least one month and a balance of over 10 million won.

The new card also offers 5 percent reward points in various everyday categories such as restaurants, cafes, convenience stores, online shopping, lifestyle, travel, and fashion.

It also provides up to 20 percent rewards on recurring payments for memberships, OTT services, and mobile phone bills.

The two companies plan to conduct joint marketing targeting foreign customers to expand card issuance, and come up with additional benefits such as telecom bill discounts and online/offline shopping discounts in partnership with telecom providers.