Shinhan Card Diversifying Business Model
Shinhan Financial Group is enjoying a rapid growth in its card business in Vietnam. The cumulative sales of Shinhan’s Vietnamese card business came to US$190 million (223.25 billion won) as of the end of April, up 43 percent from a year earlier, according to Shinhan Financial on May 12.
The number of members topped 210,000, with 97 percent of them being Vietnamese. In particular, Shinhan Bank Vietnam saw its card business, which ranked 12th in 2011 when it entered the card market, rise to the seventh place. An official from Shinhan Card said, “We are in the same level as such global banks as HSBC and Citigroup in the card business.”
Shinhan Bank Vietnam is conducting joint marketing activities with 180 local partner stores, including Klook, the biggest travel platform in Asia, and Shopping, the largest online shopping mall in Vietnam, and has released point systems and cash-back card products which are tailored to the local market.
Shinhan Card received approval from Vietnam’s financial authorities for the acquisition of Prudential Vietnam Finance Co. (PVFC) in January and has recently changed its corporate name to Shinhan Vietnam Finance Co. (SVFC). An official from Shinhan Card said, “We will diversify our business model from consumer credit loans to consumer goods and car installment financing and strengthen our business competitiveness by improving funding structure.” Based on the group’s “One Shinhan” strategy, Shinhan Card is planning to further improve the ranking of its card business to fifth in Vietnam by 2020 and expand SVFC to become a total financial group along with Shinhan Bank Vietnam.