South Korea Country Report

South KoreaPayments Market | Country Report

A comprehensive overview of the cards, payments and consumer banking market in South Korea.

SOUTH KOREA CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORT | KEY FACTS

• A rapidly ageing population, low birth rate, and high youth unemployment are of great concern to the government as the poverty rate amongst the elderly rises and public finances continue to be strained.
• South Korea's household debt rose to a new record in 2017, even as the government tightened lending terms to cool the property market.
• Economic growth seems to be slowing due to falling domestic consumption and decreasing exports.
• With the home market saturated and revenue from MSCs limited, Korea's big banks are diversifying their financial products and seeking new markets.
• Domestic card issuers are seeking to expand the functionality of domestic use-only cards to enable foreign use to cut costs paid to international card companies.
• Given that Korea is one of the most technologically advanced nations in the world with an already robust e-commerce market, it is expected that m-commerce will grow rapidly.
• Credit cards are experiencing a resurgence following restored customer confidence after a massive data leak.
• The downturn was an opportunity for the promotion of debit cards, which are now being embraced by a more fiscally responsible generation.
• Further growth is expected in the debit cards market as debit cards gain recognition as a useful budgeting tool and the market is expanded by a lowering of the age limit of debit cardholders from 14 years of age to 12 years of age.
• 2018 will be the year of biometric authentication as the rollout of fingerprint vein scanning is expected by three of the largest issuers of cards – Shinhan, BC and Hana Card.
• The possibility of a move towards a cashless society strengthens in South Korea as Starbucks leads the way and announces a further 100 cashless stores.