[Sponsored Report] Buying over the Internet made easy by KB Card

Kim Duk-soo, CEO of KB Kookmin Card, left, and Choi Dong-chun, the country manager of MasterCard, celebrate the launch of their brand K-World. Provided by KB Card

Korean consumers are increasingly purchasing foreign goods directly from international websites and the trend has raised the need for safer overseas transactions. In response, KB Kookmin Card has released Korea’s first international transaction service for customers who shop online. KB Card clients can enjoy the service with no additional annual fees and reduced overseas transaction fees.

Some individuals have recently fell victim to overseas credit card theft or false smartphone transactions, said a company official. The company estimates about 9.98 million direct purchases from foreign websites were made this year, a value of about 995 billion won ($950 million). Compared to the same period last year, this was an increase of 25 percent in transactions a 53 percent increase in money spent, according to the Korea Customs Service.

Many foreign shopping websites save transaction data such as the credit card numbers for shoppers who don’t want the hassle of inputting all information in again. However, some users feel anxious about the service and fear their information may get stolen from hacking.

In order to quell those fears, KB cooperated with MasterCard last month to offer SecurePay, a safe foreign transaction service. Clients who use the service are given virtual card numbers to use for online purchases. The card expires according to a preset number of uses and the date.

The service is provided to KB card users with MasterCard credit or debit cards at no additional charge or transaction fees. Clients can set the expiration date and limit the money for monthly transactions from the bank’s website or app. The virtual number can be discarded before the set date at users’ convenience.

KB also launched K-World with JCB International for overseas transactions. Membership fees are about the same amount as the domestic membership, and members can use their card in 26 million member stores and ATMs across 190 nations. Clients are free from the burden of being issued an additional card for international payments, and the overseas service charges are as low as 0.5 percent until the end of 2019.

In addition, KB also released the K-World card with UnionPay last month. The China-based card company has 19.6 million member stores and 1.6 million ATMs in 142 countries. The card comes in handy especially for members who often visit China. UnionPay has 4.8 million member stores and 440,000 ATMs in the nation.

“We plan to work with various international card companies to provide diverse choices for K-World clients,” said a KB Card official.