Korea’s card spending up 4.8% in Q1 on consumer sentiment recovery

[Photo by Yonhap]

South Korea’s card spending gained by nearly 5 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year ago on recovery in consumer sentiment.

According to data released by the Credit Finance Association on Tuesday, Korea’s total card approval amount totaled 290.9 trillion won ($211.37 billion) during the first three months of this year, up 4.8 percent from the same period a year ago.

The number of approvals also rose 6.2 percent to 6.77 billion transactions.

“Consumer sentiment has recovered sharply compared to the same period a year ago, showing a favorable trend, and the increase in online transactions centered on mobile gift certificates and vouchers, as well as those in sectors closely related to daily life such as food, agricultural, livestock, and fisheries products, is believed to have influenced the card approval performance,” the association said.

Sales in offline-focused retail sectors such as department stores are also on the rise.

The association explained that the trend of increased demand from airline passengers and travel-related sectors continues amid the normalization of overseas travel and an uptick in tourism.

The approval amounts for business facility management and business support services increased by 20.5 percent year-on-year on the back of recovery of sales in related industries such as travel agencies, and those for transportation increased by 14.9 percent due to increased overseas travel.

By card type, the amount and number of individual card approvals rose by 5.9 percent and 6.4 percent to 242.2 trillion won and 6.39 billion, respectively.

Corporate card approval amounts decreased by 0.5 percent to 48.8 trillion won compared to the same period a year ago, which the association estimated was due to decreased business performance leading to reduced tax payments and expenses.

The number of corporate card authorizations increased 1.9 percent to 380 million.