China Expands Export Controls, Adds 20 Japanese Companies to Restricted List 
Dollar Slips Ahead of Key U.S. Jobs Data as Fed Rate Outlook, ECB, and Iran Talks Shape Forex Markets 
Apple Challenges India Antitrust Probe, Says CCI Copied Rivals’ Claims in App Store Case 
Open-Source AI Models Gain Ground as Enterprises Seek Lower-Cost Alternatives, Citi Says 
China Manufacturing PMI Edges Higher in June as Exports and AI Investment Boost Growth 
U.S. Stocks End Q2 Higher as Strong Jobs Data and AI Rally Lift Wall Street 
Trump Suspends Some Morocco Fertilizer Tariffs to Ease U.S. Supply Shortage 
Gold Price Drops to Eight-Month Low as Fed Rate Hike Bets Weigh on Bullion. Source: Photo by Michael Steinberg via Pexels 
Canada Grants C$7 Million to Greenland Molybdenum Mine to Strengthen Critical Minerals Supply 
Baige Online Shares Soar 333% in Hong Kong IPO Debut as AI Insurance Demand Lifts Chinese Listings 
Asian Currencies Slip as Dollar Holds Firm, Yen Near Four-Decade Low Ahead of Fed, Jobs Data 
Trump Urges Gasoline Retailers to Cut Prices to $2.50 Per Gallon, Warns of Legal Action 
Nvidia Stock Rises as SemiAnalysis Sees AI Data Center Revenue Beating Wall Street Forecasts 
Baidu Shares Rally as Kunlunxin Eyes $50 Billion Hong Kong IPO 
Chip Stocks Rally as Samsung and SK Hynix’s $1.3 Trillion Investment Plan Boosts AI Optimism 
Super Micro Shares Slide After Taiwan Raids Over Alleged Nvidia AI Chip Smuggling Probe 
Anthropic Brings Claude AI Models to Microsoft Azure Foundry With NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs 
Apple Pay reportedly caused a surge in the number of Hyundai Card users, where it reportedly saw a 75% on-month increase. The latter is the first partner of Apple’s mobile payment system in South Korea, and it was just recently launched in the country.
According to The Korea Herald, in the first month since Apple Pay was activated in South Korea, many locals immediately applied for a Hyundai Card. The launch apparently helped boost Hyundai Motor Group’s credit card unit, and it happened in just a short time.
Based on the data gathered from the Credit Finance Association of Korea, the number of new members who recently signed up for the Hyundai Card increased by 203,000. The figure slowly grew after Apple Pay was introduced on March 21.
The increase was said to be the highest recorded last month among the eight leading local credit card issuers, such as Hana Financial, Lotte, Samsung, Woori Bank, Shinhan Bank, BC, KB Kookmin Card, and Hyundai Card.
The figure is said to be twice the count of new members that the Hyundai Card recorded in February, which was 116,000. Experts in the industry opined that the increase may have been triggered by people’s interest in trying out a new mobile payment system. And Apple Pay is operated by a popular American tech which boosted its appeal to the masses.
Meanwhile, out of the 2.9 million stores in South Korea, it was estimated that only 100,000 could have secured requirements to be able to allow Apple Pay payments. These stores may be the only ones that have NFC readers that will work with Apple Pay, so this could be one of the downsides of a new mobile service option.
