Credit Card Spending Keeps Setting New Records

The average daily spending on credit cards, both individual and corporate combined, hit a new high last year of W1.8 trillion (US$1=W1,069).

Credit card use has been on the rise due to growing mobile shopping and overseas travel.

The Bank of Korea said Wednesday that the average daily spending on individual credit cards was W1.33 trillion last year, up 10.2 percent from W1.21 trillion in 2016. The figure has kept increasing in recent years.

Statistics show that online shopping via mobile devices rose by 34.6 percent and the number of people going abroad by 18.4 percent over the same period.

"Shopping with mobile devices is becoming easier, and the demand for overseas travel is rapidly growing as budget carriers have expanded their services," said a BOK official.