SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Card received its first Japan credit rating, 'A+' (Positive), from Japan's leading credit agency, JCR (Japan Credit Rating Agency, Ltd). The newly granted credit rating elevates Hyundai Card to the only Korean credit card company currently retaining a Japanese credit rating.

Founded in 2001 as the credit card arm of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC), Hyundai Card has been an industry leader, pioneering the Korean Private Label Credit Card (PLCC) business and more recently successfully transformed to focus on data science. The JCR credit rating marks Hyundai Card's third international credit rating. In 2006, Hyundai Card received a BBB(Stable) rating from S&P and in 2007 received a BBB(Positive) rating from Fitch ratings. In Korea, Hyundai Card has AA ratings from Korea Ratings, KIS ratings and NICE Investors Service.  

Hyundai Card's A+ JCR credit rating represents a high level of certainty to honor financial obligations. JCR's report reflects that it considers the HMC group's creditworthiness to be equivalent to A+ based on its sound financial position and the fact that it has a dominant business base within the Korean automobile market, while also geographically diversifying in several major markets and segments.  The A+ credit rating awarded to Hyundai Card marks the first time to receive the same level evaluation as its parent company, Hyundai Motor Company (HMC).

JCR's rationale for the confident rating was due to the fact that Hyundai Card's card business has a strong market position and competitiveness with 11.79 million card holders. It also recognized that Hyundai Card launched the industry's first Private Label Credit Card (PLCC) business in 2015 and introduced Apple Pay for the first time in Korea in 2023. Furthermore, it's likely that Hyundai Card's capability to develop and operate ICP (In Car Payment) systems with HMC in domestic and overseas markets, also contributed to the A+(Positive) credit rating.

In JCR's credit ratings report, Hyundai Card was noted to having a transaction volume which is well above the industry average and having generally sound and diversified assets. Hyundai Card has focused on risk management by putting strict credit management policies into place contributing to keeping delinquency and Non-performing loan (NPL) ratios low.

"We deem the achievement to increased positive international credit is due to Hyundai Card's large scale investment in data science and AI(Artificial Intelligence) which has largely contributed to success in various departments across the business including Products, Marketing, Customer Service, and Risk Management" commented Mr. Byeongku Jeon, CFO of Hyundai Card.

The newly accredited rating allows Hyundai Card to procure capital within different currency markets. In 2022, Hyundai Card exported an exclusively designed IT system 'H-ALIS' to Japan. Moving forward, the JCR credit ratings will become as a stepping stone for Hyundai Card to continue to partner with various businesses within Japan to utilize its innovative data science capabilities.