Credit card companies are shifting their focus to expats, providing discounts and support in multiple languages in response to declining profits, as noted by industry insiders on Friday.
In the past, these companies primarily catered to Koreans traveling abroad, but there’s been a move towards targeting foreigners living in the country.
The NH Nonghyup Card has recently launched a new debit card specifically designed for non-Korean residents.
This card, available to individuals aged 12 and older who possess an Alien Registration Card, features postpaid transport functionalities and offers various discounts for both local and international sellers.
Cardholders can enjoy a 5% rebate on purchases at retail stores, restaurants, healthcare facilities, and public transportation, while digital content subscriptions earn a 10% rebate.
To enhance international profit, this card also provides a 2% rebate at merchants overseas and waives withdrawal fees for ATM use abroad twice a year.
In addition, Hana Card has introduced a multilingual chat support service for its foreign clientele.
Customers can communicate in their native languages, although agents will reply in Korean, using an AI-driven translation system for real-time interpretation. The service currently supports seven languages—English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian—and aims to expand to 16.
With profits shrinking, credit card companies are targeting foreign residents as growth among Korean citizens is constrained by lower commercial fees and stiff domestic competition. This has prompted firms to create offerings that cater to this emerging customer segment.
The strategy aligns with a rise in South Korea’s foreign resident population, which has driven demand for financial services. As of June, foreign residents in the country reached an all-time high of 2.73 million, as reported by the Department of Justice.
“Competition for domestic customers is fierce, so we’re focusing on steadily growing our business with foreign residents here,” stated an official from one of the leading card issuers.
