Euljiro emerges as hotspot for card issuers
Card issuers have been relocating to Euljiro in downtown Seoul, recently, to seek cooperation with other financial companies, lobby groups and government offices in the area, according to industry officials, Sunday.
BC Card is the latest one to follow the trend.
The card firm started operating out of Eulji Twin Tower on Euljiro 4-ga, Monday, after 27 years in southeastern Seoul.
According to the company, only a few departments using large equipment will stay at its former headquarters in Seocho-gu near Nambu Bus Terminal.
In May 2018, a BC Card-led consortium signed a contract with Daewoo E&C to buy the new headquarters building.
BC Card bought a part of the building’s eastern tower for 376.9 billion won ($313 million) in June.
The company said it will use several floors as office space and rent the remaining floors.
Visa Korea is also scheduled to move to the Mirae Asset Center 1 building on Euljiro 5-gil in late 2019 from the OCI headquarters building on Sogongro in downtown Seoul.
The Korean subsidiary of the world’s largest card firm plans to establish a Visa Innovation Station, a fintech lab for startups, in its new headquarters.
Since Shinhan Card moved to the Pine Avenue building on Euljiro 2-ga in late 2017 from the Post Tower in Myeong-dong, card firms have flocked to the thriving street which has recently drawn attention in the industry.
In late 2017, Hana Card also moved its head office to the former Korea Exchange Bank headquarters building on Euljiro.
The card issuing unit of Hana Financial Group centralized its dispersed departments through the relocation.
“Euljiro, dubbed as hipjiro, has been in the limelight among hipsters, since the recent redevelopment,” a card firm official said. “Card firms can get in touch with other financial companies, the Credit Finance Association and the Financial Services Commission more easily, when they locate to Euljiro.”