Economic slowdown hits S. Korea’s card spending

The growth of spending via plastic cards has decelerated in South Korea. The Bank of Korea reported a 6.2 per cent increase in daily average spending to 3.3 trillion won in 2023, a drop from the 12.7 per cent growth seen the previous year, Xinhua reported on Monday.

This slowdown mirrors the country’s reduced private consumption growth, which fell from 8.7 per cent in 2022 to 5.3 per cent in 2023.

Credit card spending saw a modest rise of 6.9 per cent, a significant decrease compared to the 13.5 per cent surge in the year before.

Meanwhile, check card spending grew by 4.5 per cent , and prepaid card spending notably declined by 33.3 per cent.

Transactions completed in person using cards increased by 6.6 per cent , and mobile device settlements grew by 5.6 per cent.