Hyundai Card has launched PLCC 2.0, a private label credit card model that gives partner companies access to its AI and data science tools.
South Korea-based Hyundai Card built PLCC 2.0 on around KRW 1 trillion (USD 800 million) invested over the past decade in AI and data science infrastructure. The model combines card rewards, cultural experiences, and AI-based data tools, and integrates Hyundai Card’s AI and data science capabilities directly into the businesses of the companies it issues co-branded cards with.
AI tools for card partners
At the centre of the model is UNIVERSE for Partners (U4P), a package that lets Hyundai Card’s PLCC partners use its AI models for recommendation, prediction, and optimisation without building their own data infrastructure. U4P is delivered as software-as-a-service, so partners receive ongoing technology updates. Genesis, Hyundai Motor’s premium car brand, plans to adopt U4P.
The underlying UNIVERSE platform has already been supplied overseas: in October 2024, Hyundai Card signed a contract to provide it to Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Card Company. Hyundai Card also operates a data alliance called Domain Cosmos, which links it with partner companies and covers around 260 million consumers, and expects the alliance to expand into a global network supporting personalised marketing.
Partnerships beyond cards
PLCC 2.0 also extends to operational and cultural collaboration with partners. Hyundai Card is sponsoring Korean Air’s adoption of Starlink in-flight Wi-Fi and has worked with retailer Emart to develop ready-to-eat meals based on popular restaurant dishes identified through its payment data. With NAVER, another PLCC partner, it is widening a collaboration focused on card products and data science to include cultural content and sports marketing.
Established in 2001 as the financial arm of Hyundai Motor Group, Hyundai Card runs a data alliance with 16 partner brands, is Apple Pay’s domestic partner in South Korea, issues American Express Centurion card designs, and is a global data partner of Visa. The company is also developing blockchain-based cross-border payments and runs cultural events such as its Super Concert and Super Match series.
