A customer pays with a credit card at a convenience store in this photo taken in June 2023. Korea Times file

Credit card companies are rushing to introduce tailor-made payment services for foreign nationals to capitalize on the surge in expats and international tourists.

The number of foreign residents reached 2.61 million as of July, accounting for over 5 percent of Korea's total population, according to the Korea Immigration Service.

Data from the Korea Tourism Organization revealed that 11.03 million inbound tourists visited Korea in 2023, representing a 245 percent increase from the previous year and surpassing the 10 million mark for the first time since the pandemic.

As a consequence, BC Card, a Korean payment processing company, is offering services for its customers in cooperation with fintech companies.

BC Card also has its own credit card brand, and issues more than 30 million cards every year.

The services include cashback rewards that are worth 5 percent of purchases for shopping, travel, concerts, other cultural performances and other sectors that the company finds are "closely connected with leisure and pastimes."

Mobile payment is also available, such as the one utilizing QR codes, to help boost convenience for users.

Overseas remittances are offered for guest workers who need to send money back home. Short-term residents can utilize prepaid phone services.

The credit card arms of financial holdings groups are seeking to capitalize on the customer network of their respective group's affiliates to develop products for foreign nationals.

For instance, Shinhan Card is collaborating with Shinhan Bank to gather relevant data on potential customers from abroad, including information on annual incomes, credit ratings and delinquency rates.

Industry sources indicate that an increasing number of credit cards are likely to attract foreign nationals as customers, particularly as international tourists are spending more in the post-pandemic era.

Their spending totaled 5.49 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in 2019 and drastically fell to the range of 1 trillion in 2020 and 2021 when the pandemic was at its height.

The amount then bounced back to 2.86 trillion won in 2022 and reached 6.91 trillion won in 2023.