"Are There Still People Making Deposits and Withdrawals at Banks?"... Record Low Transaction Proportion

The Share of Face-to-Face Transactions in Deposit and Withdrawal Deals in Q2 is 7.4%... Lowest Ever
Impact of Internet and Mobile Banking Expansion Combined with COVID-19

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eunbyeol] The proportion of customer deposit and withdrawal transactions conducted through bank branch visits has dropped to the low 7% range, marking an all-time low.

With the advancement of internet banking and the activation of non-face-to-face transactions, combined with the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), customers have been conducting simple transactions via the internet or mobile devices.

According to the Bank of Korea on the 6th, the proportion of face-to-face transactions among deposit and withdrawal transactions in June was 7.4%, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter (8.1%). This is the lowest proportion since related statistics began in 2005.

This proportion fell below 20% for the first time in the first quarter of 2008 (19.8%), and then dropped below 10% for the first time in the first quarter of 2018 (9.5%) after 10 years. Since then, it slightly increased from 7.7% in the third quarter of last year to 7.9% in the fourth quarter and 8.1% in the first quarter of this year, but fell back to the 7% range in the second quarter as the COVID-19 spread intensified.

*Source: Bank of Korea

Deposit and withdrawal transactions through ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) also hit a record low at 22.7%. The proportion of telebanking (5.6%) was also low. In contrast, transactions processed through internet banking reached an all-time high of 64.3%. Deposit and withdrawal transactions via internet banking have steadily increased, surpassing 60% for the first time in the first quarter of this year (62.7%).

This trend was even more pronounced for simple inquiry services. As of the first half of the year, 91.5% of various inquiry services related to financial transactions, such as account inquiries and fund transfer result inquiries, were conducted via the internet. Inquiries through bank counters accounted for only 5.9%.

Meanwhile, according to the Bank of Korea, the average daily number of internet banking uses in the first half of this year was 208.13 million, a sharp increase of 25.5% compared to the second half of last year. The average daily amount of internet banking transactions was 55.294 trillion won, nearly 5.5 trillion won more. Among internet banking uses, mobile banking accounts for 60.5%.

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