Credit Card Spending Hits Record High

South Korean’s overseas credit card usage amounts climbed to a record high in 2010 as an increasing number of citizens are going to other countries for travel or business following the nation’s economy was recovering and local currency’s value was also strengthened.

According to the Bank of Korea’s report on Monday, overseas credit card spending totaled $7.27 billion last year, up 35.2 percent from a year earlier.

On a quarterly basis, overseas card spending hit an all-time high of $1.95 billion in the fourth period, up 29.3 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The nation’s economy grew 6.1 percent and the local currency “won” gained 2.6 percent to the U.S. dollar last year amid robust exports and continued capital flows.

The central bank said the number of credit card users jumped 51.8 percent on-year to 12.8 million last year. An average spending on each credit card was $568 overseas, down 11 percent from a year earlier.

(아주경제 송지영 기자)

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com