Hyundai Card, one of South Korea’s leading credit card companies, has been beefing up its abilities to analyze consumer data, such as where consumers use credit cards and what items they buy, to better understand customer habits. These efforts are aimed at offering tailored services and products to meet differing customers’ needs.

“Hyundai Card has established a curation system that defines data and cleanses unnecessary data, so that data of diversified nature may be systematically arranged in a ‘Hyundai Card’ way,” said an official at the company.

To use processed data for its business expansion and diversification, the company has been running the Domain Galaxy data platform, where corporate partners may issue private label credit cards via Hyundai Card and conduct joint marketing schemes. Customers’ sensitive information is kept confidential for security reasons.

The key value of Domain Galaxy is to enable such cross marketing between Hyundai Card and its business partners, according to the company.

“Domain Galaxy will serve as a stepping-stone for the company to evolve into a data-driven company,” official said.

Since 2015, the card issuer has been expanding its partnership for PLCC as well. The number of PLCC corporate customers now stands at 15, of which 12 are currently market champions in their respective sectors. So far this year, the company has added five new PLCC customers, including coffee chain Starbucks, car sharing firm Socar, and fashion commercial platform Musinsa.

“The latest addition of Musinsa to Hyundai Card’s PLCC network is a notable step as more than 80 percent of (Musinsa’s) customers are fashion savvy young people aged under 35, a population group that was previously unseen in Hyundai Card’s major pool,” the official said.

Backed by its business achievements, Hyundai Card is now preparing for what is expected to be a $2 billion initial public offering in the nation as early as next year.

The card company, as well as other financial units under car manufacturing giant Hyundai Motor Group, has been jumping in new business realms in a bid to find new growth momentum. Hyundai Capital, the auto financing unit of the conglomerate, for instance, acquired Sixt Leasing, one of Germany’s largest car rental firms, in February.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)