Credit cards take Korea by storm

Koreans have more credit cards per person than any country in the world, with the exception of the United States, according to Bank of Korea data yesterday.

Credit cards issued to Koreans as of yesterday totaled 92 million and debit cards stood at 90 million.

The combined 182 million cards make 3.78 per Korean, based on the population of 48.1 million.

The United States registered 5.3 cards per person, while Singapore had 2.98, Britain 2.36 and the Netherlands 1.92.

The survey was conducted of 14 countries.

Total cards issued to U.S. citizens stood at 1.59 billion.

“While debit cards are more popular in countries like Germany, Japan and the Netherlands, Koreans tend to prefer using credit cards,” the central bank said in a report.

Korea led the world in numbers of automatic teller machines.

The BOK data showed ATMs per 1 million people stood at 1,788 units, followed by Canada at 1,735, the United States at 1,318 and Belgium at 1,284.

Koreans lagged behind in terms of cash reserves.

The portion of total assets held either in cash or in demand deposits tallied 5.8 percent in 2006.

This is the second-lowest among the 14 countries surveyed.

Britain ranked the lowest at 4.5 percent.

The United States took the top spot at 59.1 percent, followed by Hong Kong at 42.4 percent, Singapore at 32.4 percent, Japan at 21.2 percent and Switzerland at 16.4 percent.

Per-capita cash reserves in dollar terms was $482 for Korea, while the United States had more than four times the figure at $2,736.

By Seo Ji-eun Staff Reporter [spring@joongang.co.kr]