MANILA, Philippines—The Gotianun-led East West Bank has teamed up with the fast-growing Korean car brand Hyundai to offer a premium motorist lifestyle credit card offering a lot of exclusive perks for Hyundai car owners.
Under the partnership launched Wednesday night, a premium lifestyle motoring credit card “Hyundai Mastercard” shall be issued by East West Bank as an additional sweetener to members of the One Hyundai Club, the first distributor-based car loyalty program in the country.
About 5,000 Hyundai customers had been pre-selected for the first batch of this co-branded credit card, Fe Perez-Agudo, president of the Philippine Hyundai distributor Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. (HARI) told reporters.
East West president Antonio Moncupa said the partnership was underscored by the fact that Hyundai was the most popular brand among car buyers with existing consumer loans with his bank.
With this Hyundai MasterCard, cardholders instantly get a 3-percent rebate on fuel purchases at any gasoline station nationwide as well as a 0.5 percent rebate on other retail purchases at any merchant worldwide. As much as a P1,000-rebate is earned on every statement per month. Rebates shall be redeemed as Hyundai vouchers and can be used to pay for services, parts and labor and accessories at all authorized Hyundai dealerships.
The card also offers exclusive discounts at all authorized Hyundai dealerships. Bearers shall enjoy a 10 percent discount on preventive maintenance services – including purchases of parts and labor and selected accessories. It also comes with 24/7 roadside, medical or travel assistance. These are on top of year-round special discounts and privileges from partner merchants – from dining, shopping, travel, to health and fitness.
East West – which became a more significant player in consumer banking in 2009 when it acquired the local consumer finance units of AIG – is now the fifth biggest credit card issuer in the country with about 700,000 active cards. It is the sixth biggest in terms of credit card receivables.
The bank also obtained approval from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to upgrade its operations to a universal bank from a regular commercial bank subject to conditions related to an increase in public ownership. “We need to sell shares and be publicly owned then be listed within three years,” Moncupa said.
Moncupa said the bank has been expecting to sustain brisk growth in consumer lending, particularly in auto and mortgage lending. “If we don’t grow by more than 20 percent, we will be very sad,” he said.
HARI, the official distributor of Hyundai automobiles in the country, expects sales volume to grow by at least 20 percent this year after selling 20,000 units last year.
Rising to Top 3 in the automotive industry and thrice named Hyundai’s Asia-Pacific Distributor of the Year in less than a decade of its operations, HARI has a 34-branch dealer network and a roster of popular vehicles, including the Grand Starex, Tucson, Santa Fe, Genesis Coupe, Getz, i10, Elantra, Accent, and Sonata.