Lee Dong-chul (right), president of KB Kookmin Card in Seoul and Adisak Sukumvitaya, chairman of Jaymart Group in Bangkok, pose for a photo shoot after an online deal closing event in honor of KB Kookmin Card’s acquisition of a stake in J Fintech, a Thai credit finance company on March 1. (Photos: KB Kookmin Card)

KB Kookmin Card made a foray into the Thai market, the first such move by a Korean credit card company.

The card issuer announced on Feb. 1 that it completed the acquisition of a stake in a Thai credit finance company. KB Kookmin Card signed a contract to acquire the stake in April last year.

Later that day, KB Kookmin Bank held a “deal closing” event to connect Seoul and Bangkok, Thailand, through an online video conference to finalize the deal to acquire part of J Fintech, a Thai credit finance company.

The acquisition of the Thai financial company is the first case in which a Korean credit company has entered the Thai consumer financial market through permit or mergers and acquisitions, since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

KB Kookmin Card will have a third overseas subsidiary following a bank in Cambodia in 2018 and a microfinance company in Indonesia in 2020.

The total amount of the acquisition was about 24 billion won, with KB Kookmin Card and Jaymart Group splitting ownership almost 50 and 50.

Management rights are held by KB Kookmin Card, which owns 50.99 percent of voting rights in J FinTech.

The newly acquired company is a financial subsidiary of Jaymart Group, which has the biggest mobile phone distribution and debt collection company in Thailand as its affiliate.

Last year, the company posted 139.2 billion won in total assets and 3.9 billion won in net profits. The company’s business lines include personal credit loans and auto loans.

More than 400 branches across Thailand, can be used as an exclusive market to sell financial services, including mobile phone distribution channels owned by Jaymart Mobile, a subsidiary of Jaymart Group.

KB Kookmin Card plans to make the company a top-tier loan business in the mid- to long-term by continuing to transfer its core financial capabilities, such as product development, digital and information technology and risk management to the Thai market.

It plans to combine its customer base and business know-how in Thailand.

To this end, it plans to lay a foundation by reorganizing its portfolio centered on high-quality assets and reducing borrowing costs. It will build an efficient business system by strengthening business infrastructure, diversifying and expanding its sales channels.

KB Kookmin Card also plans to introduce new products and various digital-based services optimized for local customers, while developing sophisticated credit evaluation models to enhance risk management capabilities and asset soundness.

By building up its experience in entering overseas markets to establish a global IT system, KB Kookmin Card is planning to focus on diversifying its business and profits by capitalizing on the card businesses in the future.

“With the acquisition of the Thai credit finance company, KB Kookmin Card will have four local subsidiaries and representative offices in five Southeast Asian countries — Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Myanmar,” a KB Kookmin Card official said.

“We hope that our entry into the Thai market will play the roles of priming water for KB Financial Group’s other affiliates’ expansion into Thailand and serve as a bridgehead for Korean financial companies to enter the Thai market.”

Meanwhile, KB Kookmin Card announced on March 3 that it will hold an event to celebrate the first anniversary of its Pengsu Card launch, giving limited-edition Pengsu puzzles and gold cards as prizes and offering cashback benefits of up to 20,000 won.

The event will select 100 applicants through a lottery every day from March 8 to 31 to present the limited-edition Pengsu Puzzle.

Moreover, winners will be selected among those who will complete Pengsu Puzzle and post it on social networking services. They will be given Pengsu Gold Cards.

About 200,000 customers signed up for Pengsu’s Check Card within 26 days of its release, a KB Kookmin Card official said. The figure surpassed 300,000 in 95 days and 400,000 in a year.

KB Kookmin Card holds an event in honor of the first anniversary of Pengsu Card's launch.

An analysis of those who signed up for Pengsu Card from February 17 in 2020 to February 16 in 2021 showed that those in their 20s accounted for 37.5 percent, followed by 29.6 percent by those in their 30s, 15.1 percent by those in their 40s, and 8.3 percent by those in their teens.

Pengsu Card sales were extended for one more year as it has enjoyed immense popularity.