Shinhan Card Co., South Korea's leading credit card company, said Wednesday it has established a joint venture with an Indonesian carmaker to tap into the credit market in the Southeast Asian country.  

Shinhan Indo Finance set sail earlier in the day to provide a range of vehicle-related financing and leasing, while planning to expand into the credit card business starting in the second half of next year, according to Shinhan Card.

Shinhan's Indonesian partner is Swadharma Indotama Finance, a financial subsidiary of Indonesia's carmaker Indomobil Sukses Makmur Tbk owned by the nation's second-largest conglomerate, Salim Group, according to officials.

In August, the South Korean card firm said it was buying a 50 percent-plus share of the Indonesian financial arm to become a major shareholder.

"Shinhan is targeting to grow more than 10 percent annually in the financing field over the next five years," the company said in a release. "It will also make efforts to emerge as a front-runner in the credit card business as early as possible." (Yonhap)