Card Approval Amount in 2Q This Year 292 Trillion Won... 4% Increase YoY

Impact of Increased Travel and New Car Purchases
Growth Rate Declines Compared to Last Year... "2022 Base Effect"

Photo by Yonhap News

The total card approval amount in the second quarter of this year exceeded 292 trillion won, increasing by about 4% compared to the same period last year. This is attributed to the rise in automobile sales and increased revenue in travel and leisure-related businesses.

According to the Credit Finance Association on the 31st, the total card approval amount and the number of approvals in the second quarter of this year were 292.1 trillion won and 7.07 billion transactions, respectively. These represent increases of 4.1% and 6.9% compared to the same period last year.

The year-on-year quarterly growth rate of approval amounts has shown a slight decline, from 14.8% in Q2 2022 to 15.1% in Q3 2022, 8.4% in Q4 2022, and 11.5% in Q1 2023. This relatively lower growth rate is interpreted as a base effect following the significant increase in card approval performance last year.

However, domestic demand recovery and growth in sales in travel and leisure-related industries continue. According to the Korea Air Transport Association, the number of international air passengers surged by 444.2%, from 2.871 million in Q2 last year to 15.623 million in Q2 this year. Although vehicle fuel sales declined due to falling oil prices, automobile sales increased as the semiconductor supply shortage gradually eased and new car launches took effect. According to the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association, domestic car sales rose by 13.5%, from 668,949 units in Q2 last year to 759,323 units in Q2 this year. Additionally, online shopping transaction amounts increased by 7.2%, from 34.555 trillion won in April-May last year to 37.035 trillion won in the same period this year.

The personal card approval amount in Q2 this year also rose by 5.1% year-on-year to 237.7 trillion won. During the same period, the number of approvals increased by 7.1% to 6.67 billion transactions.

Meanwhile, corporate card approval amounts decreased by 0.2% year-on-year to 54.6 trillion won, while the number of approvals increased by 3.8% to 400 million transactions. This is understood to be due to the base effect from the record-high performance in 2021 and the global economic downturn, which relatively contracted corporate business performance. As a result, tax payments and expense expenditures decreased, leading to a reduction in corporate card approval amounts. In fact, operating profits of companies listed on the Korea Exchange reached a record high of 186.9 trillion won in 2021 since statistics began, but fell by 14.7% to 159.4 trillion won in 2022.

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