Hyundai Card - History

History

Since June 16, 1995, Hyundai Card operated under the trade name of Diners Club Korea Co., Ltd. after acquiring the credit card division from Korea Credit Circulation Co., Ltd. The former Diners Club Korea Co., Ltd. entered into a “workout” agreement under a debt restructuring program with the Creditor Financial Institutions Council and was subsequently sold to Hyundai Capital on October 9, 2001.

Under Hyundai Capital’s management, HyundaiCard changed its trade name to HyundaiCard Co., Ltd. In June 2003, Hyundai Capital sold all of its shares in HyundaiCard to Hyundai Motors, Hyundai Steel and Kia Motors, each of which is a member of the Hyundai Motor Group.

In October 2005, Hyundai Card and the Hyundai Shareholders entered into a strategic alliance with GE Capital whereby the GE Shareholder acquired a 43.0% equity interest in Hyundai Card for W313 billion. Concurrently with the GE Shareholder’s share acquisition, a GE Capital affiliate subscribed to W200 billion of Hyundai Card’s subordinated bonds with warrants due October 31, 2010, exercisable into shares of HyundaiCard’s common stock at the exercise price of W8,831 per common share. Under the terms of the warrants, GE Global Finance Ireland may exercise such warrants only to the extent the shareholding of GE Capital (including its affiliates) does not exceed 43.0% of HyundaiCard’s issued and outstanding shares. The exercise period expired on April 30, 2009, and a total of 3,652,457 shares valued at W32.3 billion were issued to GE Capital and its affiliates pursuant to the exercise of such warrants during the exercise period. As of the date hereof, there are no outstanding warrants issued to GE Capital or its affiliates.

In January 2006, the GE Shareholder participated in a rights offering and HyundaiCard’s paid-in capital increased by W165 billion, increasing the total investment by GE Capital in HyundaiCard to W710.5 billion (including W200 billion in subordinated debt).

In May 2003, Hyundai Card launched its flagship credit card Hyundai Card M and in February 2005, The Black card, the first super-premium brand targeting the top 0.05% of cardholders. In February 2006, Hyundai Card launched The Purple card, an exclusive premium brand targeting the top five percent of cardholders, and then in 2008, The Red Card.

To enhance customer satisfaction as well as brand recognition, in April 2006, Hyundai Card unveiled PRIVIA, an internet based shopping mall which offers various products and services exclusively to Hyundai Card members. In 2006 and 2007, Hyundai Card won the prestigious “Korea’s Most Respected Company” honors in the credit card category from the Korea Association of Management Consultants, and in 2009 Hyundai Card was ranked number one for the fifth consecutive year in the credit card category according to the National Customer Satisfaction Index, a well-regarded survey sponsored by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy, which quantitatively measures the level of customer satisfaction by product.