[THE INVESTOR] Card spending by individuals rose 11.9 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, industry data showed on Nov. 1.
Individuals’ spending with credit cards and debit cards came to 156.1 trillion won (US$139 billion) for the July-September period, according to the data from the Credit Finance Association.
The hike is attributable to an increase in demand by travelers during summer vacation period and Chuseok, the Korean autumn harvest celebration. This year‘s Chuseok holiday was 10 days long and included two national holidays and two weekends.
Meanwhile, card spending by corporate users fell 18.9 percent on-year to 36.4 trillion won for the three months ending Sept. 30.
The decline is blamed on reduced benefits by credit-card firms for corporate users.
By Alex Lee and newswires (
alexlee@heraldcorp.com)