Amid sluggish domestic consumption, the pace of growth in credit and debit card spending in South Korea slowed to 3.1 percent in January from 9 percent a year earlier, data showed Thursday.
The modest 3.1 percent rise marks the lowest growth since a 2.5 percent increase in February last year.
According to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association of Korea, the amount of credit card spending by South Koreans reached 38.66 trillion won in January, up 1.2 percent from the same month of last year.
Debit card spending grew faster than spending by credit cards. Debit card spending soared 11.9 percent to 9.64 trillion on-year, which accounted for 19.9 percent of the total spending.
The country has seen a steady rise in spending by debit cards, also called "check cards," as they give more tax deductible benefits to users. The government encourages more people to use debit cards, as part of efforts to reduce household debts.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
