Banks share of Korea’s household loan market has fallen to the lowest-ever level as stricter screening regulations have prompted more people to turn to nonbanking lenders, Bank of Korea data showed Saturday.
The central bank said that private sector debt, excluding credit card spending, tallied at 569.3 trillion won ($482.5 billion) at end-March, and loans by local banks accounted for 49.1 percent of the total.
It is the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2002, when the central bank first released such data.
Banks’ share of household debt rose steadily from 53.3 percent in late 2002 to 60.1 percent in late 2006. But it then fell, sinking below the 50 percent mark in the first quarter of 2014.
BOK officials attributed the decline to increased borrowing from nonbanking lenders, including insurance companies, financial companies, credit unions and private lenders.