These Days, College Students Spend 520,000 Won a Month

Binu Labs Announces Financial Life Report for Generation Z

Generation Z spends an average of 520,000 KRW per month excluding fixed costs such as savings, investments, and housing expenses, according to a recent survey.

Binulabs, the operator of the university life platform 'Everytime' (CEO Kim Han-yi), released the "Generation Z Trend Report: Financial Life Edition" on the 21st, containing these findings.

Generation Z was found to use an average of four financial services or apps such as KakaoPay and Toss. Excluding fixed costs, the average monthly spending is 520,000 KRW, with 52% spending between 300,000 and 600,000 KRW, 26% spending over 610,000 KRW, and 22% spending less than 300,000 KRW.

About 28% of all respondents are currently investing, and more than half (56%) invest small amounts of 1,000,000 KRW or less. Most are investing in stock products such as domestic and overseas stocks. Responses showed that males and upperclassmen are more likely to invest than females and underclassmen.

The main banks used by Generation Z (multiple responses allowed) were ▲Kookmin Bank (21%) ▲Kakao Bank (19%) ▲NongHyup Bank (18%) ▲Toss Bank (17%) ▲Shinhan Bank (8%). They use both commercial banks and internet-only banks without distinction. The most common reason for using internet banks as the main bank was "convenience of mobile use."

The most frequently used banking apps were ▲Toss (24%) ▲Kakao Bank (22%) ▲Kookmin Bank (18%) ▲NongHyup Bank (14%) ▲Shinhan Bank (7%).

For offline payments, 69% used debit or credit cards, 24% Samsung Pay, and 5% simple payment methods. For online payments, 53% used simple payment methods, 33% debit or credit cards, 10% bank transfers or direct deposits, and 2% Samsung Pay.

In an overall satisfaction survey (5-point scale), Toss scored 4.09, Kakao Bank 3.95, and KakaoPay 3.62.

This survey was conducted with a total of 1,000 university students nationwide in their 20s, 500 males and 500 females each, through the Everytime service. The survey period was from February 17 to 22 of this year.