The Korea Credit Finance Association announced on the 30th that the total card approval amount and the number of approvals in the second quarter of this year were 313 trillion won and 7.51 billion cases, respectively, representing a year-on-year increase of 3.7% and 1.7%.
Consumer sentiment is showing signs of recovery, driven by a reduction in domestic uncertainties and expectations of economic stimulus measures, and the overall card approval performance is analyzed to have shown a gradual increase due to factors such as increased sales of new cars and continuous improvements in the management performance of corporations.
As the management performance of corporations improved, the effects of increased tax and utility payments and recovery in expenditure led to a relatively high approval amount increase rate for corporate cards (5.9%).
In the second quarter, the approval amount and the number of approvals for personal cards were 254.8 trillion won and 7.1 billion cases, respectively, which increased by 3.3% and 1.9% compared to the same period last year. This is believed to be due to the increase in online transactions.
Among the 8 industries closely related to consumer spending in the Korean Standard Industrial Classification (major classification) of the Statistics Korea, the education services industry (3.5%) and the health and social welfare services industry (9.4%) showed an increase in card approval amounts.