From January to May this year, personal overseas spending surpassed 9 trillion won for the first time.
According to the Credit Finance Association on the 24th, personal overseas spending from January to May reached 982.29 billion won. That is about 11% more than personal overseas spending in the same period last year (887.23 billion won).
By card company, credit card (lump sum + installments) overseas spending was led by Hyundai Card at 26%, followed by Samsung (17.88%), Shinhan (15.71%), KB Kookmin (11.38%), and Hana (7.89%). For debit card overseas spending, Hana Card was highest at 42.33%, followed by Shinhan (30.99%), KB Kookmin (11.38%), Woori (8.11%), and NH NongHyup (5.38%). Hana Card was the first to introduce a travel card, which is widely used for overseas trips. The travel card waives currency exchange fees and overseas ATM withdrawal fees.
A card company official said, "Card companies now have to compete not only with other card companies but also with Fintech firms like Travel Wallet. Proprietary products and services that others cannot offer lead directly to consolidation of results."