The amount of individual credit card spending in South Korea rose to the highest level in more than 10 years in July, reflecting improving consumer sentiment, data showed Friday.
The figure stood at 38.85 trillion won (US$36.28 billion) at the end of July, up 9.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
It marks the highest monthly amount since the 39.30 trillion won tallied as of end-January in 2003, the BOK said, adding that the data include transactions made overseas.
The individual credit card spending had been on a decline since December last year, when the financial regulator tightened rules in local credit finance law.
Under the amended regulations, card firms are required to scale back their pay-by-installment and other ancillary services such as cash advances.
But that didn't stop card users from preferring to pay via plastic money, pushing up the overall spending, the data showed.
In July, the amount of non-installment transactions stood at 25.53 trillion won, up 9.6 percent from the previous year, while the corresponding figure for monthly installments fell 8.5 percent to 7.37 trillion won.
"The credit card spending is on the rise as households' purchasing power has improved, though the growth pace is not rapid," said Lim Yoon-hwa, an official from the Korea Credit Finance Association.
The growth rate of Korea's total credit card spending, including corporate expenditures, came in at 7.6 percent in August from a year ago, compared with a 3.6 percent on-year gain in May, the data showed. (Yonhap News)
