7.5 million users of the Korean BC Global Card can now make payments in Croatia

Zagreb, 9. July 2015 – 7.5 million users of BC Global Card, a popular card brand from BC Card, the largest domestic network in South Korea can now make payments in Croatia at all points of sale displaying the Diners Club sign. This is the result of a collaboration between BC Card, the North American Discover Network and Erste Card Club d.o.o. (ECC) which has the exclusive right to negotiate acceptance of the card in Croatia. The collaboration itself, which is already being promoted in Korea, was initiated due to the significantly higher number of Korean tourists that have been visiting Croatia.

Korean tourists can make payments at all points of sale displaying the Diners Club sign, and at 59 of them they will be eligible for a discount. At the Zagreb Tourist Bureau and 59 points of sale, Korean tourists will find leaflets in the Korean language featuring a QR code which will tell them where they can get a 10% discount. These locations are specifically chosen and they include museums, souvenir shops, restaurants and similar, in Zagreb, Rovinj, Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik. The discounts will be offered from 1 July to 30 September. While in Croatia, the users of BC Global Card will also be able to withdraw cash at the ATMs of Erste Bank and the MBNET ATM network.

The collaboration was presented at Zagreb's Museum of Broken Relationships by In Cheol Park, Head of Marketing at BC Card, Tribh Grewal, Head of Business Development at Diners Club Int., and Tihomir Prislin, Head of the Sales Network Management Division at Erste Card Club. Jasenka Mandzika of the Zagreb Tourist Board and Drazen Grubisic, author of the Museum of Broken Relationships, presented the importance of this collaboration from the point of view of tourism. At the event, the first discounted purchase was made using a BC Global Card at the Museum's souvenir shop. The Museum of Broken Relationships is one of Zagreb's recognizable sites that Korean tourists regularly visit.

In Cheol Park, Head of Marketing at BC Card: "Croatia is one of major tourism destinations for Korean tourists. After Croatia's beautiful sites were presented in a popular TV show in 2014, Croatia became very popular in Korea and the number of Korean nationals that visit Croatia has doubled. I am certain that this collaboration will attract them even more and that they will enjoy the offers we prepared with retailers. BC Card will entirely promote and encourage card users to shop at retailers included in the programme. It will also inform card users that they can freely use their cards at all retailers that accept Discover/Diners cards in Croatia. With their BC Global card they will be able to both pay for tickets to the Museum of Broken Relationships and buy souvenirs in souvenir shops."

Tribh Grewal, Director Business Development at Diners Club International: "BC card is a valued partner of Discover with millions of BC Global Card cardholders who use their cards for purchase goods and services at millions of merchants globally via Discover Network.  Discover and DCI strives to provide the best user experience for BC Global Card cardholders.  With a partnership with Erste Card Club, Croatia's DCI franchise, we've created a Croatia Campaign for Korean visitors, featuring merchant offers in key cities across Croatia. Croatia is a very popular destination for Korean tourists and Croatia Campaign ensure that Korean visitors have the confidence that their BC Global Card are accepted in Croatia and get value from exclusive merchant offers.  Through partnership between Erste Card, Discover/DCI, and BC card, we believe that more Koreans will visit Croatia and experience the wonders and history that Croatia provides."

Tihomir Prislin, Head of Sales Network Management Division at Erste Card Club: "We are glad that Erste Card Club, as a member of Erste Group in Croatia, ensured and enabled the accepting of the Discover card, which the South Korean BC Card is part of, via the Diners Club card acceptance network. With this collaboration we bring added value and opportunity for improving business operations to our business partners, the points of sale in Croatia. 31 Croatian companies with 59 points of sale in 5 towns have recognized and provided benefits for paying with a BC Global Card. This type of collaboration was made possible through synergy with Discover, owner of the Diners Club Int. brand globally, and through it we brought the Croatian market closer to the global market. Discover cards are currently accepted at over 30,000 points of sale in Croatia. With this, Korean tourists who are visiting our country are made to feel welcome and provided added value offered by their payment card company."

Data on Korean tourists' visits to Croatia from the Zagreb Tourist Board

According to data from the Croatian Tourist Board, last year Croatia was visited by around 180,000 Korean tourists, while the data from the Zagreb Tourist Board (TZGZ) show that Korean tourists currently rank number one on the list of foreign tourists visiting and staying in Zagreb. In the past five years, the number of Korean tourists that visit Zagreb and Croatia has grown significantly. Compared to 2010 when Zagreb was visited by just over 5,000 Korean tourists, in 2014 as many as 68,500 Koreans visited Zagreb, which is a 13-fold increase. Comparing the number of visits last year with the previous year, Zagreb was visited by three times more Korean guests. In the first five months of this year, the number of Korean tourists visiting Zagreb grew by 56% compared to the same period last year. This higher number of Korean guests is the result of TZGZ promotional activities among other things. TZGZ has been promoting Zagreb's tourism offering on the Korean market for a number of years and, in line with that, it also publishes promotional materials in the Korean language for Korean tourists. In addition, at their initiative the new Koran reality show Friends is currently being recorded in Croatia. Employees in the tourism sector have adjusted to the increased visits of these guests, thus Zagreb now has a Korean hostel, a Korean restaurant and a shop with Korean products.

Collaboration of BC Card and Discover Network

BC Global Card is a leading payment card brand in Korea with 7.5 million active card users. It is the global partner of Discover Financial Services, the leading payment card institution in the US. As a result, its cards are accepted at all points of sale outside Korea that are part of Discover and Diners Club's networks. The average amount spent by BC Global Card users when travelling is around USD 1,500.

About Diners Club International Ltd.

Diners Club International is owned by Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS), a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Established in 1950, Diners Club International became the first multi-purpose charge card in the world, launching a financial revolution in how consumers and companies pay for products and services. Today, Diners Club is a globally-recognized brand serving the payment needs of select and affluent consumers, offering access to more than 550 airport lounges worldwide, and providing corporations and small business owners with a complete array of expense management solutions. With acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories, millions of merchant locations and access to more than 1 million cash access locations and ATMs, Diners Club, as a strategic partner of the Discover Global Network, is uniquely qualified to serve its cardmembers all over the world. For more information, visit www.dinersclub.com.

About Discover

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a direct banking and payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States. The company issues the Discover card, America's cash rewards pioneer, and offers home loans, private student loans, personal loans, home equity loans, checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit and money market accounts through its direct banking business. It operates the Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in more than 185 countries and territories. For more information, visit: www.discover.com/company.