[비즈한국] Since introducing Apple Pay in 2023, Hyundai Card has firmly maintained the number one spot in overseas credit card payments among domestic card companies. Perhaps thanks to this, Hyundai Card’s performance has improved even while card companies generally reported sluggish results last year. However, it is difficult to guarantee that Hyundai Card will continue its exclusive Apple Pay system. Other card companies, including Shinhan Card and KB Kookmin Card, are reportedly pushing to introduce Apple Pay as well. The problem is that card companies must pay a certain fee to Apple when using Apple Pay, which is a burden for the issuers.
The card industry experienced generally sluggish performance last year. In this climate, Hyundai Card’s improved performance is drawing attention. Hyundai Card’s net profit increased by 10.71% from 316.4 billion won in 2024 to 350.3 billion won in 2025. While Hyundai Card ranked 4th in net profit in the card industry in 2024, it overtook KB Kookmin Card to reach 3rd place in 2025.
Hyundai Card attributed its performance growth to factors such as: strengthening its product lineup optimized for various lifestyles, high payment convenience and the advancement of overseas services, and the impact of data science capabilities and the competitiveness of its premium products.
The card industry cites 'Apple Pay' as another reason for Hyundai Card’s rise. Hyundai Card introduced Apple Pay services in South Korea in March 2023. Customers holding Hyundai Card can make payments via Apple Pay using Apple devices such as iPhones and Apple Watches. Currently, Hyundai Card is the only card company in Korea that supports Apple Pay.
Apple Pay is an attractive service for iPhone users who cannot use Samsung Pay. In particular, while some merchants that support Samsung Pay also facilitate overseas payments, the scale is not as large as that of Apple Pay. Kim Da-som, a senior researcher at NICE Ratings, evaluated Hyundai Card by stating, "Considering factors such as being the first to introduce Apple Pay in Korea and pursuing various marketing strategies, a trend of strengthening the membership base is expected in the mid-to-short term.".
According to the Credit Finance Association, as of early 2023, Hyundai Card ranked 3rd in personal credit card overseas payment volume, behind Samsung Card029780 and Shinhan Card. After introducing Apple Pay, Hyundai Card rose to 1st place in overseas payment volume in May 2023, and has not relinquished the top spot for nearly three years. In December 2025, Hyundai Card’s personal credit card overseas payment volume reached 3.7642 trillion won. The gap with the 2nd place, Samsung Card at 2.4929 trillion won, is significant. In July 2025, when releasing data related to its 1st place status in overseas payments, Hyundai Card mentioned, "The differentiated secret behind our success, such as expanding accessibility to EMV (Europay, Mastercard, Visa) payments through the first domestic introduction of Apple Pay, is garnering attention."
However, one cannot guarantee that Hyundai Card’s exclusive Apple Pay system will last. Shinhan Card and KB Kookmin Card are also known to be pursuing the introduction of Apple Pay. In particular, Shinhan Card received approval from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) for its Apple Pay service terms and conditions last June. If Shinhan Card and KB Kookmin Card introduce Apple Pay services, Hyundai Card’s exclusive system will collapse, which could also impact Hyundai Card’s market share. Both Shinhan Card and KB Kookmin Card stated that no specific schedules or plans for introducing Apple Pay have been decided.
The problem is that card companies must pay fees if they adopt Apple Pay. Samsung Pay has not charged separate fees to card companies since its launch. However, Apple Pay is known to collect a 0.15% fee per transaction from card companies. When Hyundai Card was the sole provider of Apple Pay, it enjoyed the effect of expanding market share despite the high fees. However, if multiple card companies adopt Apple Pay, the effect of expanding market share becomes limited, while the burden of fees only increases.
Furthermore, rumors are circulating in the card industry that several other card companies, beyond Shinhan and KB Kookmin, are also pushing to introduce Apple Pay services. If all major card companies provide Apple Pay, the net benefits to the card companies would be minimal, while only Apple would reap significant profits. Professor Kim Sang-bong of Hansung University stated in a research paper, "(After introducing Apple Pay), card usage performance and net profit increased compared to before, but the response was not significant." He added, "This confirms that Apple Pay did not significantly contribute to the rise in card usage or net profit for affiliated card companies, and that other factors such as inflation and economic growth were reflected.".
Because of this, there is talk in some parts of the card industry that they might request Apple to lower its Apple Pay fees. A card industry official said, "It is true that with the recent deterioration in card company profitability, the high fees of Apple Pay can be a burden," adding, "It is difficult to state a position because the specific details of the contracts are unknown."