President Lim Young-jin, 2nd R, of Shinhan Card cuts a cake in celebration of the credit card firm’s 10th anniversary on Sept. 15, together with key officials of the union. 

Shinhan Card’s ‘Deep Dream’ credit card introduced in the market on Sept. 21.(photos: Shinhan Card)

Shinhan Card is enjoying the success of its new “Deep Dream Card,” which already boasts 240,000 customers since it was put on the market on Sept. 22.

The credit card firm attributed the enormous popularity of the card to a low membership fee of 8,000 won and a point system that automatically collects the points for cardholders.

The company officially announced on Nov. 7 subscribers had reached 242,000, which was a record for  subscribers in under two months since since 2007, when the company was launched.

One of the secrets for the enormous success of the Deep Dream Card has been its high function versus cost. One has to pay just 8,000 won per card and gets 0.8 percent in point accumulation regardless of the credit charged in the preceding month.

Cardholders get a 3.5 percent point credit where the card was used the most through the “auto selection system” that Shinhan Card imported to build its automatic point accumulation technology for its cardholders.

The automatic point selection technology analyses where cardholders use their cards and allocates points. Convenience stores earn the highest points of 3.5 percent, but during the summer, overseas travel provides the most points as the cards will be used the most frequently.

Shinhan Card, the country’s top card company, laid out a new corporate vision during a ceremony to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Lim Young-jin, CEO of Shinhan Card, vowed to develop the card unit of Shinhan Financial Group into one of the country’s top 10 IT companies within a decade. The initiative goes hand in hand with several leading financial institutions’ focus on technology and digital financial services.

Lim suggested that the company develop more digitally exclusive financial products and services on mobile devices. To achieve that objective, Shinahn Card plans to increase the proportion of experts on high-end technology to 50 percent of its entire staff. Under the 10-year strategy, Lim also vowed to boost the proportion of overseas sales to 10 percent of all profits.

With the number of South Koreans traveling overseas hitting new record highs each year, the local credit card industry has been rushing to roll out new products to offer frequent overseas travelers more chances to earn air miles. Shinhan Card’s new product, Asiana Shinhan Card Air 1.5, is one such card recently launched to earn air miles through Asiana Airlines.

The product accumulates 1.5 mileage points per 1,000 won (88 cents) spent on Asiana flights. It’s among the highest rates offered by local credit cards, the company said. If the credit card is charged overseas, the rate will double to three mileage points per 1,000 won. Double mileage accumulation, however, is capped at 2,000 points per month. Such points can only be accumulated when the credit card user spends more than 500,000 won in the previous month, the company noted. 

Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. (SFG) is a financial holding company. The company operates through five segments: commercial banking services, which are provided by Shinhan Bank Co., Ltd.; credit card services, which are provided by Shinhan Card Co., Ltd.; securities brokerage services, which are provided by Shinhan Investment Corp.; and life insurance services, provided by Shinhan Life Insurance Co., Ltd.