[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people traveling abroad has significantly decreased, resulting in overseas card usage in the third quarter (July to September) falling to less than half of the same period last year.
According to the "Overseas Card Usage Performance of Residents in the Third Quarter" released by the Bank of Korea on the 25th, the total overseas card (credit, check, debit) spending by domestic residents during this period amounted to 2.17 billion USD (approximately 2.403 trillion KRW).
This represents a 54.8% decrease compared to the same period last year (4.79 billion USD), mainly due to the near-complete halt of outbound travel. This is the lowest amount in ten years since 2010 (1.896 billion USD) for the third quarter.
However, it increased by 15.6% compared to the second quarter (1.87 billion USD). This is attributed to the number of outbound Korean travelers rising from 120,000 in the second quarter to about 230,000 in the third quarter, nearly doubling.
By card type, compared to the third quarter last year, usage amounts decreased by 57% for credit cards (1.5 billion USD), 48% for check cards (643 million USD), and 46% for debit cards (22 million USD). On the other hand, compared to the previous quarter, these increased by 17%, 13%, and 12%, respectively.
A Bank of Korea official explained, "The slight increase in overseas card usage in the third quarter compared to the second quarter is due to the rise in outbound travelers as well as the decline in the KRW-USD exchange rate."
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