Six new cards released, including three Alphabet Card and three Alphabet Card BOLD variants; annual fees of 15,000 won and 50,000 won

[Hyundai Card]
[Hyundai Card]

Hyundai Card announced Tuesday the launch of its own independent brand, the Alphabet Card.

The Alphabet Card's defining feature is its straightforward benefit structure: each card offers a 10% billing discount in its core category, covering beauty, mobile payments, recurring payments, dining and travel.

Hyundai Card unveiled six Alphabet Card products Tuesday, with three new additions named the Alphabet Card B (Beauty), Alphabet Card P (Pay) and Alphabet Card R (Repeat). Five cards from a series introduced in September last year were also rebranded — the Alphabet Card D (formerly Hyundai Card D), Alphabet Card H (formerly Hyundai Card H), Alphabet Card O (formerly Hyundai Card O), Alphabet Card S (formerly Hyundai Card S) and Alphabet Card T (formerly Hyundai Card T).

The six newly released cards comprise three Alphabet Card and three Alphabet Card BOLD variants. The Alphabet Card B (Beauty) focuses on discounts for beauty, health and fashion; the Alphabet Card P (Pay) is designed for mobile payment services including Naver Pay and Apple Pay; and the Alphabet Card R (Repeat) offers enhanced benefits for recurring charges such as utility bills, mobile phone plans and OTT subscriptions. All three carry an annual fee of 15,000 won ($10). Cardholders receive a 10% discount at each card's designated specialty merchants and a 5% discount on everyday spending at coffee shops, convenience stores and public transit.

The Alphabet Card BOLD builds on the standard Alphabet Card benefits by adding bonus discounts in each card's core category. The Alphabet Card D BOLD covers dining out and online food delivery; the Alphabet Card S BOLD covers online and offline shopping; and the Alphabet Card T BOLD covers overseas spending — each providing an additional 50,000 won ($36) bonus discount. All three BOLD cards also include two domestic airport lounge passes and two airport valet parking vouchers. The annual fee is 50,000 won ($36).

The Alphabet Card's physical design drops the Hyundai Card corporate identity mark from the card face. Each card prominently displays the letter representing the cardholder's lifestyle, making the product's purpose immediately clear. Distinct, high-saturation colors are applied differently to each card to express what the company describes as the Alphabet Card's free-spirited and experimental identity.

The card packaging has also been redesigned. The standard horizontal envelope used for most credit cards was replaced with a vertical format to match the card's orientation, and all enclosed documents and inserts were redesigned in the same vertical style. The metal card variant comes in a flat box with a pop-up mechanism that reveals the card when pulled, designed to make the unboxing experience distinctive.

Hyundai Card also developed a custom typeface for the Alphabet Card, drawing on the Dutch Design tradition of minimalism and structural experimentation. The font uses the proportions native to a credit card (1:1.58) to reflect the card's identity and can be freely stretched and transformed in any direction. Hyundai Card plans to distribute the typeface free of charge so that anyone can incorporate it into daily life.

"The Alphabet Card is a fully independent brand built on Hyundai Card's heritage but with a completely different identity — one of freedom and originality," a Hyundai Card official said. "True to our slogan 'Alphabet for Life,' we will deliver a new brand experience in our members' everyday lives that is distinct from Hyundai Card itself."


won@heraldcorp.com