Q3 Card Approval Amount Up 3.4% Year-on-Year... Growth Slows Compared to First Half

Card approval amounts in the third quarter increased by 3.4% compared to the same period last year.

Due to high inflation and dampened consumer sentiment, the growth rate halved compared to the first half of the year.

According to the Credit Finance Research Institute today (October 30), the total card approval amount and the number of approvals for the third quarter stood at 338.9 trillion won and 7.94 billion transactions, respectively.

These figures represent increases of 3.4% and 1.3%, respectively, from the previous year.

The institute noted that while increases in gross domestic income (GDI) and favorable performance by domestic companies continued, consumer sentiment was slightly lower than in the same period last year, and relatively high inflation trends persisted.

It analyzed, "The growth rate of card approval amounts compared to the same period last year moderated compared to the first half due to factors such as the base effect from the distribution of consumption coupons in the same period last year, a decrease in business days due to an increase in holidays, burdens from inflation and interest rates, and sluggish sales of some durable goods such as automobiles."

The quarterly growth rates for total card approval amounts were 7.2% in the first quarter and 7.6% in the second quarter of this year.

Personal card approval amounts increased by 3.7% to 275.5 trillion won, with the number of approvals rising by 1.5% to 7.53 billion transactions.

Corporate card approval amounts increased by 2.3% to 63.6 trillion won, while the number of approvals decreased by 0.9% to 410 million transactions.

Credit card approval amounts increased by 4.1% to 264.9 trillion won, and check card approval amounts rose by 2.7% to 69.9 trillion won.

The average approval amount per transaction increased by 2.1% to 42,684 won, and rose by 0.9% compared to the previous quarter.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.