Bank of Korea says card and transfer payments surged in first half

The Bank of Korea said Tuesday that daily payments made with credit, debit and prepaid cards averaged 3.8 trillion won ($2.79 billion) in the first half of 2026, up 7.6 percent from 3.5 trillion won a year earlier.

Credit cards, which account for 79.7 percent of all card spending, rose 7.3 percent to average 3 trillion won ($2.21 billion) a day. Debit and other direct-payment cards averaged 751 billion won ($552 million) a day, up 7.5 percent, while prepaid cards averaged 16 billion won ($11.8 million), up 143.6 percent.

Account transfers through small-value payment networks grew faster, averaging 128 trillion won ($94 billion) a day, up 26.8 percent from 101 trillion won a year earlier. The electronic financial common network, which handled 92.5 percent of those transfers, rose 28.8 percent to 118 trillion won ($87.1 billion), driven by a 22.9 percent increase in internet banking transfers and a 30.4 percent rise in firm banking. Interbank transfers through the shared network rose 6.8 percent to 4.9 trillion won ($3.6 billion), and transfers on the open banking network climbed 11.3 percent to 2.3 trillion won ($1.69 billion).

Registered internet banking customers stood at 250.04 million at the end of June, up 2.2 percent from six months earlier, while mobile banking customers reached 216.01 million, up 3.4 percent. The figures count registered accounts rather than individual users, since one person can hold accounts at multiple banks.