South Korean credit card firms saw their combined net profit inch up last year from a year earlier despite a prolonged domestic economic slump and a massive data leak from major card issuers, industry data showed Wednesday.
  

Eight credit card issuers posted a combined profit of 1.86 trillion won ($1.68 billion) in 2014, up 4 percent from 1.79 trillion won the previous year, according to the data.
  

Their revenues also rose 4.5 percent on-year to 20.3 trillion won from 19.4 trillion won over the cited period, surpassing the 20 trillion won level for the first time.
  

Net income of Shinhan Card Co., the largest card issuer by market share, retreated 3.5 percent on-year to 635.2 billion won due to a one-off factor.
  

Runner-up Samsung Card Co.'s net jumped 10.1 percent on-year to 304.2 billion won and No. 4 Hyundai Card Co. logged a 36.9 percent on-year surge to reach 223.5 billion won in net profit last year on rising demand for its products and reduced costs.
  

However, the card firms that were involved in the largest-ever data leak in the country experienced a huge profit fall last year due to business suspensions and rising re-issuing costs.
  

Net income of KB Kookmin Card Co., the third-biggest firm, plunged 13.4 percent on-year to 332.7 billion won last year and Lotte Card Co. reported a 3.2 percent on-year drop in its net profit at 147.4 billion won.
  

Market insiders said that the card firms performed relatively well as domestic consumption has limped since the sinking of the Sewol ferry in April last year.
  

The state-run Korea Development Institute revised down its 2014 growth forecast to 3.4 percent from 3.7 percent, and the consumer sentiment index has fallen for a third straight month in December.
  

Their business prospects for 2015 are still vague as financial authorities are pressing the companies to lower card commission rates.
  

"We expect this year to become more difficult than last year as we face tough pressure to cut down commission rates for card loans or cash advance services," said an official from a local card firm, asking anonymity. (Yonhap)