July Card Spending Amount Up 6% Year-on-Year... Recovering Pre-COVID Trend

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Card approval performance in July has recovered to the trend before the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to the Credit Finance Association on the 2nd, the card (credit, check, prepaid card) approval performance in July this year was 77.7 trillion KRW, an increase of 6% compared to the previous year.

The approval amount for personal cards was 64.1 trillion KRW, up 5.8% from the same period last year, and the approval amount for corporate cards also increased by 6.6% to 13.7 trillion KRW. Although the approval amount growth rate in July was lower than June's 11.0%, it recovered to the pre-COVID-19 trend.

However, approval performance by industry showed significant disparities, reflecting changes in consumption patterns due to COVID-19.

In July, the approval amount in 'Wholesale and Retail Trade' surged by 23.0% compared to the same period last year, while the transportation industry plummeted by 54.1%. The 'Business Facilities Management and Business Support Services,' which includes travel agencies, contracted by 44.4% despite the peak vacation season.

A credit finance industry official analyzed, "The natural monthly approval amount growth rate before the outbreak of COVID-19 was around 6%. With COVID-19 being controlled in July, consumer sentiment recovered, and the effect of emergency disaster relief funds was exhausted, resulting in the approval amount growth rate returning to the usual level."

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