Cash Disappearing from Wallets... Average Holding Amount 53,000 Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] It has been revealed that the average amount of cash South Korean citizens carry on a daily basis is only 53,000 won. Instead of cash, they mainly use credit cards, and recently, the use of mobile payment services has also surged.

According to the "2019 Payment Methods and Mobile Financial Services Usage Survey Results" announced by the Bank of Korea on the 10th, the average amount of cash individuals hold in their wallets was 53,000 won, a decrease of 27,000 won compared to 80,000 won in 2017.

Cash holdings have decreased across all age groups, with those in their 20s carrying 25,000 won, the smallest amount among all age groups. Those in their 50s were found to hold an average of 71,000 won.

When withdrawing cash, people tend to use CD/ATM machines rather than visiting financial institutions. The rate of cash withdrawals using CD/ATM in the past month reached 90.2%. However, those aged 60 and above still tended to withdraw cash at banks and similar institutions.

Cash usage among the public is expected to continue declining. 38.5% of respondents said they expect their cash usage to decrease in the future, while 59.2% said their usage would remain unchanged.

Instead of using cash, people actively used credit cards. Last year, the overall satisfaction score by payment method ranked credit cards first with 80.8 points, surpassing cash at 79.5 points. This ranking reversed compared to two years ago. The convenience of payment was cited as the main advantage.

Based on transaction counts, the share of cash usage decreased from 36.1% in 2017 to 26.4%, while credit card usage increased from 29.3% to 43.7%. In terms of transaction amounts, cash usage declined from 20.3% to 17.4%, whereas credit card usage rose significantly from 32.8% to 53.8%.

Looking at payment method usage by purchase amount (based on transaction counts), credit cards held a high share in all amount ranges except for those under 10,000 won. Offline, cash was most used in traditional markets (78.5%) and retail stores, shops, and supermarkets (41.6%), while credit cards were the most used payment method in all other locations.

With the increase in smartphone ownership, the use of simple remittance services has also rapidly increased. The proportion of respondents who used simple remittance services within the past three months was 26.0%, up 2.6 percentage points from the previous year. However, the proportion of respondents who used simple payment services within the past three months was 28.4%, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous year.

The use of mobile banking services at banks has also increased. The proportion of respondents who used mobile banking services of general banks within the past three months was 57.1%, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous year. The proportion of respondents who used mobile banking services of internet-only banks was 19.9%, a significant increase of 6.4 percentage points from the previous year.

A Bank of Korea official stated, "To respond to the decrease in cash usage, it is necessary to improve convenience and acceptance by expanding the use of various non-cash payment methods, including increasing benefits for check/debit cards and simple payment services in addition to credit cards." He added, "Efforts are also needed for financially marginalized groups, such as the elderly who mainly use cash."

This survey was conducted over 38 days from October 28 to December 4 last year, targeting 2,650 adults aged 19 and older nationwide.

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