Shinhan Card Issuer Summary

Report date: 2026-05-16
Issuer: Shinhan Card Co., Ltd.
Ticker: SHINCA
Sector: South Korea specialty credit finance / credit card
Primary credit focus: issuer credit, senior unsecured bonds, market funding including foreign-currency bonds, and the distinction between support expectations as a subsidiary of Shinhan Financial Group and explicit guarantees

1. Business Snapshot and Recent Developments

Shinhan Card Co., Ltd. is a major South Korean credit card and specialty credit finance company under Shinhan Financial Group. It is not a bank and does not directly take deposits. It supports credit purchases, short-term card loans, long-term card loans, instalment finance, leasing, and platform/data-related businesses through domestic bonds, international bonds, CP / electronic short-term bonds, ABS, and borrowings from within and outside the group. The starting point for credit analysis is not to view Shinhan Card as part of Shinhan Bank, but as a non-bank financial company that holds card receivables and consumer credit funded through market funding, while benefiting from the Shinhan brand and group relationship.

The primary question for Shinhan Card’s credit profile is how far its large cardholder and merchant base in Korea, together with the credit support embedded in its position within Shinhan Financial Group, can absorb a non-deposit funding structure, the household credit cycle, regulation of card merchant fees, and higher funding costs. According to the Card sheet in the Shinhan Financial Group Fact Book as of end-March 2026, Shinhan Card had total assets of KRW42.8tn, card-related balance-sheet receivables of KRW38.7tn, 12.987mn card members, and 3.249mn merchants. Transaction volume in 1Q 2026 was KRW60.3tn, indicating a large business scale within the Korean card market. However, this report has not verified official competitor-by-competitor market shares or rankings, and therefore does not describe the company as the “market leader” or assign it a specific rank.

The recent change is less about scale and more about the direction of earnings and asset quality. On the cumulative basis shown in the SFG Fact Book, Shinhan Card’s net income attributable to controlling interests declined from KRW572.1bn in 2024 to KRW476.7bn in 2025. In the 2025 audited consolidated financial statements as well, net income was KRW480.2bn, down from KRW575.3bn in 2024. Net income attributable to controlling interests was KRW115.4bn in 1Q 2026. Simple annualisation would appear to put 2026 close to the 2025 full-year level, but quarterly earnings for card companies are affected by credit costs, fee income, funding costs, and the timing of write-offs and recoveries. A recovery phase should therefore not be inferred from 1Q alone.

Asset quality also needs to be assessed by separating the absolute level from the direction of travel. The 30+ day delinquency ratio declined from 1.51% at end-2024 to 1.18% at end-2025, but rose to 1.30% at end-March 2026. While still below the end-2024 level, the rebound from end-2025 indicates the need to continue monitoring household income, interest rates, consumer finance regulation, refinancing conditions, and changes in card loan usage. For card companies, even modest changes in delinquency ratios can feed through quickly into credit costs and market-funding confidence.

The following table sets out key indicators for understanding the company profile. The Card sheet in the SFG Fact Book is the main source for Shinhan Card’s consolidated trend data. 2025 figures should be read as full-year cumulative or period-end figures, and March 2026 figures as 1Q cumulative or period-end figures. The audited consolidated financial statements are used as a supplementary source to confirm the 2025 full-year results. As the legal issuer of the bonds is Shinhan Card, separate financial statements and issuance programmes need to be reviewed separately for individual bond analysis.

In this initial summary, Shinhan Card is viewed as a high-rated major card company that benefits from market-confidence support as a non-bank subsidiary of Shinhan Financial Group. However, this is neither bank credit directly sharing Shinhan Bank’s deposit base nor debt legally guaranteed by SFG or Shinhan Bank. The most important point in evaluating SHINCA bonds is to separate group-related support expectations, standalone asset quality, the funding structure, and individual bond terms.

2. Industry Position and Franchise Strength

Shinhan Card’s franchise is supported by Korea’s widely adopted card payment system, the Shinhan brand, group customer touchpoints, and its cardholder and merchant network. Korea’s card market is large but mature, and earnings are affected by merchant fee regulation, promotional costs, household debt management, and funding costs. Credit analysis should therefore focus not on transaction volume or cardholder numbers by themselves, but on whether they translate into low-risk usage, sticky payment income, and stable funding.

The company’s franchise strength lies first in the scale of its members, merchants, and transaction volume. As of end-March 2026, it had around 12.99mn card members and around 3.25mn merchants, while transaction volume in 1Q 2026 was KRW60.3tn. This scale provides the foundation for combining card payments, short-term and long-term card loans, instalments, customer data, and the merchant network. Large transaction volume is an entry point for merchant fees, annual fees, card loans, and instalment payments. It is therefore credit-positive not only as a receivable balance, but also as evidence of the depth of customer touchpoints.

The relationship with Shinhan Financial Group also supports both competitiveness and credit reinforcement. SFG is a diversified financial group with banking, card, securities, insurance, and asset management businesses, and Shinhan Card can have touchpoints with bank customers, corporate payments, merchant relationships, and the group’s digital channels. This should make customer acquisition and brand confidence easier to sustain than for a standalone card company.

However, being part of the Shinhan group should not be confused with a legal guarantee. Shinhan Card is neither a branch of Shinhan Bank nor a deposit-taking bank. Legally, the repayment source for its debt depends on Shinhan Card’s own balance sheet, funding structure, bond terms, and the parent’s willingness to provide support. Rating-agency support assumptions and bondholders’ possession of an explicit guarantee are separate issues.

The industry environment also imposes limits for card companies. In Korea, policy discussions continue to move in the direction of suppressing merchant fees, including reductions in preferential fee rates for small and medium-sized merchants and the maintenance of fee rates for general merchants. If lower fee rates, higher promotional costs, and earnings supplementation through financial products occur together, credit risk can increase even for large issuers.

Overall, Shinhan Card is a highly positioned card company with a large cardholder and merchant base and touchpoints with the Shinhan group. At the same time, the card industry is mature, regulated, and sensitive to household credit. Shinhan Card’s strength matters for credit quality not because of its member count or brand name alone, but when those strengths are accompanied by low credit costs, stable funding, and disciplined balance management.

3. Segment Assessment

For practical purposes, Shinhan Card’s business should be analysed across credit purchases, short-term card loans, long-term card loans, instalment finance, leasing, and platform/data-related businesses. For a card company, transaction volume and balance-sheet balances do not mean the same thing. Credit purchases indicate customer touchpoints and payment income, while card loans and cash advances can be profitable but are sensitive to credit costs. Instalment finance and leasing are affected by contract tenor, collateral, residual value, refinancing, and the economic cycle.

Credit purchases are the business that best represents the company’s franchise. At end-March 2026, credit purchase-related receivables were KRW18.7tn, and general transaction volume in 1Q 2026 was KRW47.2tn. Credit purchases connect a large number of members and merchants and create customer touchpoints through everyday payments. Transaction volume centred on credit purchases supports a card company’s brand and customer relationships, but profitability is prone to constraints from merchant fee regulation and points/promotional expenses. Credit analysis needs to consider not only whether transaction volume is growing, but also fee income, costs, delinquencies, and the quality of balance growth.

Short-term and long-term card loans carry both earnings potential and downside risk. At end-March 2026, short-term card loans were KRW1.4tn and long-term card loans were KRW8.2tn. Card loans support interest income in normal periods, but delinquencies are prone to rise when employment, income, interest rates, or household debt regulation deteriorate. A large credit purchase user base provides an entry point for loan customer acquisition, but if risk selection is poor, growth in high-yielding assets can turn into higher credit costs.

Instalment finance and leasing can involve larger asset- or contract-level risks than card payments. Instalment finance receivables were KRW3.6tn at end-2025 and KRW3.5tn at end-March 2026. Lease receivables declined sharply from KRW7.8tn at end-2024 to KRW3.2tn at end-2025 and KRW3.0tn at end-March 2026. Based only on the public materials reviewed for this report, it has not been possible to sufficiently confirm whether the decline in leasing was due to business downsizing, accounting or classification changes, asset sales, scheduled maturities, or intra-group reorganisation. The decline in leasing is therefore not interpreted mechanically as either risk reduction or business weakening. The details of lease-related assets and residual-value/collateral risk should be reviewed in the next update.

Balances and transaction volume by business line are as follows. The table is based on the SFG Fact Book Card sheet. Balances are period-end figures. Transaction volume is the quarterly flow for each year’s 4Q and for 1Q 2026, not annual transaction volume.

Viewed through this segment mix, Shinhan Card is not simply a payments company. It has a very large payment touchpoint, but also takes credit risk through long-term card loans, instalments, and leasing. Cardholder numbers and transaction volume indicate franchise strength, but credit quality is determined more directly by card loan and delinquency management, credit costs, funding costs, and parent support expectations.

4. Financial Profile and Analysis

Shinhan Card’s financial profile can be summarised as one of scale and earnings capacity, but with lower profit in 2025, elevated credit costs, and signs of renewed upward pressure on asset quality metrics. From 2022 to 2025, operating revenue ranged from KRW2.1tn to around KRW2.4tn, with 2025 at KRW2.37tn. Pre-provision profit declined from KRW1.69tn in 2023 to KRW1.53tn in 2025, while credit cost-related expenses remained high at KRW882.6bn in 2023, KRW918.2bn in 2024, and KRW912.6bn in 2025.

The 2025 earnings decline does not mean the company is under stress, but it is important evidence of the earnings ceiling and credit cost burden inherent in the card-company business model. On the cumulative basis shown in the SFG Fact Book, net income attributable to controlling interests declined from KRW641.4bn in 2022, KRW620.6bn in 2023, and KRW572.1bn in 2024 to KRW476.7bn in 2025. In the 2025 audited consolidated financial statements as well, net income was KRW480.2bn, consistent with the direction shown in the Fact Book. The company is large and profitable, but the earnings trajectory since 2022 has not been upward.

The following table is based on the cumulative income statement in the SFG Fact Book Card sheet. March 2026 is a 1Q cumulative figure and should not be simply annualised against FY2022-2025. The main income statement and balance sheet figures used in this report represent Shinhan Card’s consolidated trend. A more precise assessment of standalone debt repayment capacity would require additional review of the FY2025 separate financial statements and individual issuance programmes.

The most important point in this table is that while interest income is relatively stable, credit cost-related expenses consume a large share of earnings. Credit cost-related expenses have been around KRW900bn since 2023. In 2025, lower operating revenue, higher SG&A expenses, and persistently high credit costs combined to reduce pre-tax profit and net income.

As supplementary calculations, credit cost-related expenses in 2025 were equivalent to around 59.6% of pre-provision profit and around 1.9x net income attributable to controlling interests. In 1Q 2026 as well, credit cost-related expenses were around 60.9% of pre-provision profit and around 2.1x net income attributable to controlling interests for the quarter. Quarterly figures should not be mechanically annualised, but it is clear that credit costs are absorbing a large portion of earnings capacity.

On the balance sheet, total assets and card-related receivables remain large, but contracted slightly toward end-March 2026. This may indicate that the company is not chasing earnings through aggressive balance growth, while also raising a separate question as to whether earnings can be maintained without relying on growth in earning assets.

For capital, the focus should not be a bank-style CET1 ratio, but shareholders’ equity, leverage, the adjusted capital ratio, and headroom to regulatory limits for a specialty credit finance company. Shareholders’ equity was KRW8.5tn at end-2025 and KRW8.4tn at end-March 2026, providing a degree of thickness relative to total assets. However, the detailed time series for the adjusted capital ratio and regulatory leverage headroom has not been verified, and should be reviewed as a priority in the next update.

On financials, the company’s franchise, profitability, capital, and high ratings are positive factors, but the 2025 earnings decline and elevated credit cost-related expenses should not be understated. The 2025 results show both that the company continued to generate meaningful profit and that credit costs remain a major constraint on earnings.

5. Asset Quality and Credit Cost

Asset quality is the most important element in Shinhan Card’s credit analysis. Card company assets are granular and diversified, but when household income, employment, interest rates, consumption, debt restructuring, and consumer protection regulation deteriorate, delinquencies and write-offs can rise simultaneously across many small-ticket receivables. In the table below, ratios and balances are period-end figures, while write-offs and recoveries are quarterly flows for each year’s 4Q and for 1Q 2026.

The 30+ day delinquency ratio was 1.04% at end-2022, 1.45% at end-2023, 1.51% at end-2024, 1.18% at end-2025, and 1.30% at end-March 2026. After improving in 2025, it rose again in March 2026. The fact that it remains below the end-2024 level is positive, but the rise from end-2025 indicates that the company’s asset quality cannot yet be described as being in a fully improving trend. Delinquent receivables also increased from KRW457.1bn at end-2025 to KRW492.8bn at end-March 2026.

Credit cost-related expenses are also high. In the cumulative income statement, they were KRW882.6bn in 2023, KRW918.2bn in 2024, KRW912.6bn in 2025, and KRW237.4bn in 1Q 2026. Mechanically annualising the 1Q 2026 credit cost-related expenses would bring the figure close to KRW950bn, but quarterly volatility means mechanical annualisation should be avoided. Even so, it is clear that credit cost-related expenses have remained elevated since 2023.

The allowance for credit losses exceeds delinquent receivables, but for a card company, high-risk receivables that have not yet reached 30+ days past due, restructured loans, unused limits, and future migration into delinquency are also important. The adequacy of provisions should therefore not be asserted too strongly. Delinquency ratios, credit cost-related expenses, write-offs, and recoveries should continue to be monitored.

The appropriate reading of credit costs is to recognise the improvement at end-2025, while watching the 1Q 2026 re-acceleration early. The delinquency ratio is not at a crisis level, but for a card company, even a low-1% delinquency ratio should not lead to excessive comfort. It needs to be assessed together with card loans, leasing and instalments, refinancing conditions, and household debt policy.

6. Structural Considerations for Bondholders

The first structural point for SHINCA bondholders to confirm is that the legal issuer is Shinhan Card, not Shinhan Bank or Shinhan Financial Group. Shinhan Card is an important non-bank subsidiary under SFG, but Shinhan Bank’s deposits, liquidity, and regulatory capital are not direct sources of repayment. SFG’s consolidated credit profile and group relationship are supporting factors for market confidence, but the level of protection for an individual bond depends on Shinhan Card’s standalone financials, debt, guarantees, collateral, ranking, covenants, and issuance programme.

Even under the same Shinhan name, the risks of Shinhan Bank senior debt, SFG holding-company debt, and Shinhan Card debt differ. Shinhan Card debt relies on a card company’s market-funded balance sheet and needs to be assessed through both group-related market confidence and standalone asset quality.

Shinhan Card’s strengths are reflected in its size within the group and official ratings. Total assets were KRW42.8tn at end-March 2026, making it large among SFG’s non-bank businesses. The card business has strategic relevance for the group through bank customers, merchants, consumer finance, and payment data, and the group relationship may support ratings and funding access. However, the existence of a formal support agreement has not been confirmed.

Support expectations are not a legal guarantee. Based on the public materials reviewed for this report, explicit guarantees, keepwell arrangements, or letters of support from SFG or Shinhan Bank for SHINCA foreign-currency bonds have not been confirmed. The full rating-agency reports have also not been reviewed, so this report clearly separates “support expectations” from “legal guarantees”.

ABS is also important for unsecured bondholders. At end-March 2026, ABS outstanding was KRW3.5tn, equivalent to around 12% of total funding of KRW28.7tn. The current scale alone does not justify concluding that structural subordination is excessive, but an unsecured bond assessment should review ABS collateral assets, overcollateralisation, repayment structures, and the impact on residual assets.

On this basis, SHINCA bonds are “high-rated card company bonds related to the Shinhan group”; they are neither “Shinhan Bank bonds” nor “SFG-guaranteed bonds”. For individual bond investment, the legal issuer, guarantees, collateral, ranking, negative pledge, cross default, change of control, tax gross-up, governing law, maturity, currency, and issuance programme should be reviewed.

7. Capital Structure, Liquidity and Funding

Liquidity and funding are central to Shinhan Card’s credit analysis. As it is not a bank, it does not have a stable deposit base and supports card receivables through bonds, ABS, CP / electronic short-term bonds, borrowings, and international bonds. This model works while ratings are high and market access is good, but if market sentiment deteriorates toward the card industry, Korean non-banks, foreign-currency funding markets, or parent support expectations, funding costs and refinancing capacity may come under pressure at the same time.

At end-March 2026, total funding was KRW28.7tn, down slightly from KRW29.3tn at end-2025. The breakdown was KRW18.2tn of domestic bonds, KRW2.1tn of international bonds, KRW2.6tn of CP / electronic STB, KRW2.3tn of SFG loans, etc. as classified in the Fact Book, and KRW3.5tn of ABS. SFG loans, etc. is treated as a funding category that may include ordinary borrowings from within and outside the group; it has not been confirmed as a committed emergency support facility. Domestic bonds are the core funding source, while international bonds and ABS provide funding diversification. The balance of CP / electronic STB declined from KRW5.7tn in 2022 to KRW2.6tn at end-March 2026, suggesting that reliance on short-term markets is lower than in the past.

At end-March 2026, maturities within one year were KRW8.2tn, or around 28.5% of total funding. The ratio appears manageable, but the absolute amount is large. Maturities within one year need to be assessed together with cash and deposits, saleable assets, unused commitments, ABS issuance capacity, and the existence or absence of legally available support facilities.

The liquidity assets confirmed in this review are limited. At end-March 2026, cash and deposits with banks were KRW651.1bn, trading assets were KRW538.5bn, and derivative assets were KRW885.7bn. The company is not structured to cover maturities within one year with cash alone, so its liquidity depends heavily on market access and rating stability.

Funding costs are also a constraint. In the 2025 audited consolidated financial statements, interest expenses related to borrowings, bonds, and securitised bonds were KRW1.093tn. For a card company, interest expenses need to be viewed together with interest income, but when funding costs rise, the relationship among card loan yields, regulation, customer burden, and delinquencies becomes more difficult.

The supports for the funding profile are high ratings, the relationship with the Shinhan group, market access centred on domestic bonds, and funding diversification through ABS and international bonds. The constraints are the absence of deposits, large maturities within one year, unverified details on immediate liquidity, the potential for ABS to create asset encumbrance, and currency, hedging, and market liquidity exposure on foreign-currency bonds.

8. Rating Agency View

Shinhan Card’s official ratings are high. According to SFG’s official Credit Ratings page and Shinhan Card’s own official ratings page, its domestic ratings are AA+ / Stable from NICE, KIS, and Korea Ratings, while CP is rated A1. International ratings are Moody's A2 / Stable and S&P A- / A-2 / Stable. The domestic AA+ rating indicates a high rating in the Korean domestic market, while the international A-category ratings are also strong investment-grade levels for foreign-currency bond investors.

However, domestic and international ratings should not be read through simple notch comparisons. Domestic ratings are a relative scale within the domestic market, while international ratings reflect default risk, support, country risk, and sector risk for cross-border investors. The international A2/A- level is a strong investment-grade rating for a standalone card company.

This initial summary has not reviewed the latest full Moody's and S&P reports, the standalone credit profile, parent support uplift, or upgrade/downgrade triggers. Therefore, this report uses the rating status confirmed on official pages, but does not make definitive statements about the detailed support assumptions incorporated by rating agencies.

The credit view in this report is not materially inconsistent with the official ratings. The large cardholder and merchant base, importance as an SFG subsidiary, market funding access, profitability, and capital thickness are strengths. At the same time, the company is not a bank, but a market-funded non-bank financial company, and asset quality, credit cost-related expenses, short-term refinancing, regulated fees, and the legal limits of parent support expectations require continued monitoring.

9. Credit Positioning

Shinhan Card’s credit positioning is that of a credit with a strong franchise and high ratings among Korean card and specialty credit finance companies, but one that is more sensitive than bank senior debt to market funding and the consumer credit cycle. The Shinhan brand, member and merchant base, size within the group, and AA+ / A2 / A- ratings are strong. At the same time, the absence of deposits, the movement of the 30+ day delinquency ratio in the 1% range, high credit cost-related expenses, and large maturities within one year justify requiring more risk compensation than for bank bonds.

Hyundai Card, Shinhan Bank, and SFG holding-company debt should be separated as comparables. Hyundai Card is a major Korean card company and shares common issues such as parent-group support expectations, market funding, card assets, and fee regulation. Shinhan Bank is deposit-led bank credit, while Shinhan Card is a non-bank financial company that supports card receivables through bonds, ABS, and CP. SFG debt depends on subsidiary dividends and market access as holding-company debt and is structurally subordinated to subsidiary creditors.

This report has not reviewed live spreads, bond prices, yields, OAS, CDS, or maturity-matched comparisons. It therefore does not make a buy, sell, hold, cheap, or rich market call. On fundamentals, SHINCA can be a candidate for an investment-grade portfolio as a high-rated Korean card company, but it is not a full substitute for bank bonds. It is an issuer that requires price compensation for consumer credit risk, market-funding risk, and support expectations.

10. Key Credit Strengths and Constraints

The factors supporting Shinhan Card’s credit profile are its large cardholder and merchant base, relationship with the Shinhan group, profitability, high domestic and international ratings, and diversified funding channels. Constraints are reliance on market funding without deposits, the card and consumer finance cycle, high credit cost-related expenses, merchant fee regulation, short-term maturities, asset securitisation through ABS, and the fact that parent support expectations are not explicit guarantees.

Taken together, these strengths and constraints make Shinhan Card a “high-rated card company with market confidence supported by a group relationship”, but not “bank credit protected by deposits”. The issuer credit should remain relatively stable as long as standalone asset quality does not deteriorate materially, access to domestic and international market funding is maintained, and the relationship with SFG remains a supporting factor for ratings and funding access. Conversely, if card loan delinquencies, credit costs, funding costs, short-term maturities, and regulation deteriorate at the same time, pressure on earnings and market access would emerge quickly.

11. Downside Scenarios and Monitoring Triggers

The realistic downside for Shinhan Card is more likely to occur through a multi-quarter combination of weaker household credit, persistently high credit costs, pressure on fee income, and higher funding costs than through a sudden idiosyncratic failure. Because card companies are market-funded, a deterioration in asset quality and a widening of funding spreads at the same time would place dual pressure on earnings and liquidity assessment.

There are five main deterioration scenarios. First, Korea’s household debt, income, employment, and interest burden could deteriorate, increasing delinquencies in card loans, revolving balances, and instalments. Second, merchant fee reductions, consumer finance regulation, and promotional competition could make it harder to convert transaction volume into profit. Third, refinancing markets for domestic bonds, CP / STB, ABS, and international bonds could deteriorate, causing the KRW8.2tn of maturities within one year at end-March 2026 to weigh on liquidity assessment. Fourth, market assessment of SFG’s credit strength or willingness to provide support could decline. Fifth, greater use of ABS or secured funding could reduce the residual asset buffer available to unsecured creditors.

Monitoring items are as follows.

In the base case, the probability of a rapid near-term deterioration in Shinhan Card’s credit quality is not high. This reflects its high ratings, group-related market confidence, profitability, capital, and diversified funding. However, card company credit quality can be reassessed quickly when delinquency ratios and funding markets deteriorate at the same time. Investors should not rely on ratings alone, but should review asset quality, credit cost-related expenses, maturities, ABS, and parent support expectations on a quarterly basis.

12. Credit View and Monitoring Focus

Shinhan Card’s current credit quality is consistent with a high investment-grade non-bank credit as a major card and specialty credit finance company under Shinhan Financial Group. At the same time, it is not credit protected by a deposit base in the same manner as bank senior debt. It depends on market funding, consumer credit, fee regulation, and parent support expectations. The direction is broadly stable, but given the 2025 earnings decline, persistently elevated credit cost-related expenses, and the rise in the delinquency ratio at end-March 2026, it cannot yet be described as improving.

The core supports for credit quality are the franchise of around 12.99mn card members, around 3.25mn merchants, and quarterly transaction volume of around KRW60tn, the relationship with the Shinhan group, domestic AA+ and international A-category ratings, profitability, and shareholders’ equity above KRW8tn. Constraints are market-funding dependence without deposits, total funding of KRW28.7tn, maturities within one year of KRW8.2tn, the weight of credit cost-related expenses, the rebound in the delinquency ratio, and parent support expectations that are not explicit guarantees.

From an investor perspective, SHINCA senior unsecured issuer credit is naturally positioned on the stronger side among Korean card companies, while still being treated as taking more market-funding and consumer-credit risk than bank bonds. Relative value assessment requires spread comparisons with Shinhan Bank, SFG, Hyundai Card, major Korean banks and card companies, and Korean sovereign and policy financial institutions, but this report has not reviewed market data. Going forward, the key items to monitor quarterly are the delinquency ratio, delinquent receivables, credit cost-related expenses, card loans, instalments and leasing, maturities within one year, CP/STB, ABS, international bonds, SFG support assessment, domestic and international ratings, and terms of individual foreign-currency bonds.

Short Summary & Conclusion

Shinhan Card is a major Korean card and specialty credit finance company under Shinhan Financial Group, with around 13mn members, more than 3mn merchants, and quarterly transaction volume of around KRW60tn. At the same time, it is a non-bank that does not take deposits and supports card receivables through market funding. Its high ratings of domestic AA+, Moody's A2, and S&P A-, together with the group relationship, support market confidence, but they are not explicit guarantees. The 2025 earnings decline, persistently high credit cost-related expenses, renewed rise in the delinquency ratio at end-March 2026, and large maturities within one year require continued monitoring. SHINCA is a good-quality investment-grade card company credit, but it is not a substitute for Shinhan Bank bonds. Parent support expectations, consumer credit, funding markets, and individual bond terms should be assessed separately.

13. Sources

Primary Company Sources

• Shinhan Financial Group, 2026 1Q Fact Book, released 2026-04-23. https://www.shinhangroup.com/en/ir/finance/factBook
• Shinhan Financial Group, 2025 4Q Fact Book. https://www.shinhangroup.com/en/ir/finance/factBook
• Shinhan Financial Group, 1Q 2026 Business Results, released 2026-04-23. https://www.shinhangroup.com/en/ir/finance/investorPresentations
• Shinhan Card Co., Ltd. and Subsidiaries, Consolidated Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 and 2024. https://www.shinhancard.com/pconts/download/company/epdf/FY2025_Shinhan_Card%28Eng%29_consolidated.pdf
• Shinhan Card Co., Ltd., Separate Financial Statements, December 31, 2025 and 2024. https://www.shinhancard.com/pconts/download/company/epdf/FY2025_Shinhan_Card%28Eng%29_separate.pdf
• Shinhan Card, Business Line, accessed 2026-05-16. https://www.shinhancard.com/pconts/company/ehtml/ENCOM01/ENCOM01D/ENCOM01D1.html
• Shinhan Card, Credit Rating, accessed 2026-05-16. https://www.shinhancard.com/pconts/company/ehtml/ENCOM02/ENCOM02B/ENCOM02B1.html
• Shinhan Financial Group, Credit Ratings, accessed 2026-05-16. https://www.shinhangroup.com/en/ir/credit_rating

Industry And Regulatory Sources

• Yonhap News Agency, Credit card industry's 2025 net dips 9 pct on cost increases, 2026-03-19, citing Financial Supervisory Service data. https://m-en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20260319003200320
• Republic of Korea policy portal / Financial Services Commission, Small and medium merchant credit and debit card fee rate reductions, 2025-02-19. https://www.korea.kr/news/policyNewsView.do?newsId=148939735
• Republic of Korea policy portal / Financial Services Commission, Credit card merchant fee rates reduced by up to 0.1 percentage point for small and medium merchants, 2025-02-13. https://www.korea.kr/news/policyNewsView.do?newsId=148939594

Unverified / Pending Items