April 19, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Lotte Group is entering the Vietnamese credit card market with its acquisition of Techcom Finance, a subsidiary of Techcom Bank, one of Vietnam’s five largest banks, according to news reports on Sept. 28.

Lotte will be purchasing the entire stake in the firm with a credit card business license. The deal price is estimated at about tens of billions of won. 

Vietnamese people hardly use credit cards, which means there are more business opportunities for Lotte in the future. Currently, only 3 million people out of the total population of 90 million use credit cards.

Lotte entered Vietnam with its fast-food chain Lotteria in 1998 and currently has more than 10 affiliates, including department stores, hotels, cinemas, and home shopping channels there. Amid the prolonged business woes in China, the retail giant seems to be turning its eyes toward Vietnam to expand its global endeavors. Lotte is planning on a large-scale investment of 330 billion won to develop a Lotte Mall outlet in Hanoi by 2020.

By Alex Lee (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)