Usage of overdraft accounts at major commercial banks increased by the most in about three years. As the mortgage loan loan limit was reduced by regulations, demand appears to have shifted to overdraft accounts.
According to the financial industry on the 14th, the balance of personal overdraft accounts at the five major banks (KB, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH NongHyup) stood at 40.7582 trillion won as of the 11th. This statistic is the balance of overdraft loans actually used, and it increased by 674.5 billion won in just over 10 days after the end of Nov. (40.0837 trillion won). Compared with past month-end balances, it is the highest since the end of Dec. 2022 (40.20546 trillion won).
The balance of overdraft accounts at the five major banks rose to 52.8956 trillion won at the end of Apr. 2021, when, on the back of low interest rates, "yeongkkeul" (scraping together everything to buy dwellings) and "bit-too" (investing with loans) were in full swing. It then kept falling due to rate hikes and the government's household loans regulations, staying in the 30 trillion won range after the end of Feb. 2023, before climbing back into the 40 trillion won range at the end of last month amid the balloon effect of regulations and a renewed "bit-too" craze.
In particular, since the start of this month, the overdraft balance has grown by an average of 61.3 billion won per day, about three times the level in Nov. (+20.5 billion won).