The increase in private consumption has slowed, resulting in a reduction in the average daily card payment amount for the second consecutive year.
According to the '2024 domestic payment settlement trends' report released by the Bank of Korea on the 26th, the average daily usage of payment cards (credit, debit, and prepaid) was 3.436 trillion won last year, up 4.1% compared to the same period the previous year.
The growth rate decreased from 5.8% in 2019 to 0.6% in 2020, when domestic consumption was stifled due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). After recovering to 9.4% in 2021 and 12.7% in 2022, it has been reduced for two consecutive years to 6.1% in 2023 and 4.1% in 2024 due to sluggish domestic demand.
The usage amount of credit cards was 2.734 trillion won, which is a 4.3% increase compared to the same period last year. The usage amount of debit cards was 695 billion won, up 3.7%. In contrast, the usage amount of prepaid cards was 7 billion won, reflecting a sharp decline of 28.7% during the same period.
The Bank of Korea noted, "While the average daily payment card usage increased, the growth rate decreased due to factors such as the slowdown in private consumption," adding that, "In the case of prepaid cards, the decline has continued due to the cessation of some card companies' local love gift certificate projects."
The scale of non-face-to-face payment was recorded at 1.2 trillion won, up 4.1%, while the scale of face-to-face payment remained at 1.8 trillion won, maintaining the level from the previous year. The proportion of non-face-to-face payments within the overall payment scale slightly expanded to 40.8%, compared to the previous year's 39.9%.
The amount of payments made using mobile devices was an average of 1.6 trillion won, reflecting a 5.5% increase compared to the same period the previous year. The payment scale using physical cards was reported at 1.4 trillion won, showing a decrease of 2.3%. The proportion of non-face-to-face payments utilizing mobile devices increased to 52.4%, compared to 50.5% the previous year.
The proportion of card-based convenient payment services was 51.1%, with the usage of services provided by fintech corporations (ICT companies and mobile phone manufacturers) expanding to 70.3%. In contrast, the share used from card companies decreased to 29.7%.