Cashless Payments Up 1.0% Last Year... Increase in Card and Account Transfers

Bank of Korea '2019 Payment and Settlement Trends'

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunbyeol Kim] Last year, the amount of payments made through non-cash payment methods increased by 1.0% compared to the previous year. While card payment amounts and small-amount payment network account transfers increased, bill and check payments continued to decline.

According to the "2019 Payment and Settlement Trends" announced by the Bank of Korea on the 5th, the average daily payment amount using non-cash payment methods last year was 81.4 trillion KRW, up 1.0% from 80.6 trillion KRW in the same period of the previous year.

A Bank of Korea official explained, "Payment card amounts, centered on credit cards and check cards, increased by 5.8% compared to the previous year, and account transfers through the small-amount payment network also rose by 4.8% year-on-year."

The small-amount payment network refers to Giro System, CD Joint Network, Interbank Exchange Joint Network, Debit Card Joint Network, and Electronic Finance Joint Network operated by the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute. The average daily account transfer amount through the small-amount payment network was 61.6 trillion KRW, a 4.8% increase from 58.8 trillion KRW the previous year.

On the other hand, bill and check payment amounts decreased by 11.3% year-on-year due to a decline in the use of cashier's checks and current checks.

Payment card usage performance averaged 2.5 trillion KRW daily, up 5.8% from the previous year. Among these, individual credit card usage continued to increase (+7.0%) due to the expansion of e-commerce usage. Check cards maintained a high growth rate (+6.2%) supported by higher tax benefits than credit cards and comparable additional services.

Breaking down credit card usage by consumption type, individual credit card usage (average daily 1.5 trillion KRW) increased mainly in e-commerce and mail-order sales (+22.1%), utility bills and personal/professional services (+11.9%), medical and health services (+8.9%), and educational services (+7.0%).

The trend of smaller amounts per card payment continued. Last year, the average amount per transaction was 40,918 KRW for credit cards and 22,056 KRW for check cards, down 5.0% and 1.8% respectively from the previous year. The average daily number of transactions was 40.21 million for credit cards and 24.14 million for check cards, up 12.5% and 8.2% year-on-year.

A Bank of Korea official explained, "As payment card usage expanded mainly in convenience stores and public transportation, where payments are mostly small amounts, the trend of smaller amounts per transaction continued."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.