[THE INVESTOR] South Korea’s eight credit card firms posted a 13 percent on-year decline in their first-half net profit, the financial regulator said on Sept. 22.

The country’s eight card issuers earned a combined 948.7 billion won (US$861 million) in net profit for the January-June period, down 139 billion won from a year earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service said in a statement.

Increased card spending and fees were offset by higher provisions and bigger marketing costs to draw customers amid record-low rates, the FSS said.



Seven credit card issuers, except BC Card, suffered declines in net profit in the first six months.

Shinhan Card topped others with a net profit of 351.5 billion won in the first half, followed by KB Kookmin Card with 160.3 billion won and Samsung Card with 151.5 billion won.

“The card issuers’ profit margins have been on the decline due to heated competition and lower fee incomes,” said FSS official Kim Tae-kyung in charge of card firms’ issues.

(theinvestor@heraldcorp.com)