Q3 Overseas Card Usage Turns to Decline

Announcement of Resident Card Overseas Usage Performance in Q3 2021

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The amount spent using cards overseas in the third quarter has decreased again.

According to the "2021 Q3 Resident Card Overseas Usage Performance" announced by the Bank of Korea on the 30th, the amount spent by domestic residents overseas using cards in the third quarter was $2.88 billion. This is a decrease of $490 million (14.8%) compared to the previous quarter ($3.37 billion). It decreased again after just one quarter.

The Bank of Korea explained that this was due to strengthened management of overseas ATM withdrawal limits by card companies to prevent illegal foreign exchange transactions related to virtual assets, and the rise in the KRW-USD exchange rate.

The average KRW-USD exchange rate in the third quarter of this year was 1,157.4 KRW per dollar, up from the previous quarter's average of 1,121.2 KRW.

The number of cards used was 11.637 million, an increase of 1.3% from the previous quarter, while the amount spent per card was $24.7 billion, a decrease of 15.8%. By card type, the amount spent using check cards ($860 million) and debit cards ($24 million) decreased by 38.1% and 31.7%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter.

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