Hyundai Card issues green bonds worth $379 mn to finance eco-friendly services

Hyundai Card Co. has issued green bonds worth 450 billion won ($379 million) to fund its green car financing services, the credit card company said on Sept. 10. The amount raised through the bond issue is more than double the planned amount of 200 billion won.

The won-denominated bonds will have a maturity of 14 months to 10 years, and the proceeds will be used to provide financial services for eco-friendly automobiles such as electric vehicles, hybrid cars, and fuel-cell automobiles.

Hyundai Card, a captive finance subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, plans to offer a card payment service for the sale of eco-friendly cars made by Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp.

The card company will also actively support the government's plan to boost the portion of green vehicles in Korea to one-third of total automobile sales by 2030.

Green bonds are issued to raise funds that will be used for environmentally friendly projects. The bonds are a form of environmental, social and governance (ESG) bonds, which have become a global investment trend.

Hyundai Card first issued green bonds worth 240 billion won in August 2019. Since last year, financial subsidiaries of Hyundai Motor Group have issued ESG bonds worth a total of 1.7 trillion won.

Write to Jin-woo Park at jwp@hankyung.com