Card spending gains 10.3% in 2021 amid pandemic

A consumer paying bills with a credit card. (Yonhap News TV)

Card spending in South Korea rose more than 10 percent in 2021 from a year earlier amid the coronavirus pandemic, industry data showed Friday.

Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards stood at about 977 trillion won ($811 billion) last year, up 10.3 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Credit Finance Association.

Card spending in Asia's fourth-largest economy has been on a steady increase in recent years with the annualized growth rate reaching at least 5 percent in 2018 and 2019.

Of the 2021 total, credit card spending gained 11 percent on-year to some 763 trillion won, with spending made with check cards increasing 9.1 percent to around 211 trillion won.

Last year's solid increase was attributed to the growing use of cards in line with IT technology development and the expansion of a contact-free settlement culture amid the COVID-19 outbreak.

Card spending in the wholesale and retail sectors jumped 14.5 percent over the same period, with that in private learning, art and sports sectors increasing 12-20 percent.

Industry sources said card spending is expected to keep growing this year to surpass 1,000 trillion won for the first time amid the protracted coronavirus crisis. (Yonhap)