S. Koreans' overseas card spending hits new record in Q2

SEOUL, Aug. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans' overseas credit card spending rose to a fresh record high in the second quarter as the sheer number of overseas card users rose amid the economic recovery, the central bank said Wednesday.
Overseas credit card bills totaled US$2.16 billion in the April-June period, up 8.2 percent from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The second-quarter growth rate marked the sharpest growth since an 8.7 percent on-quarter expansion tallied in the third quarter of last year.
The BOK said even as the number of overseas travelers decreased from the preceding quarter, local residents' spending via credit cards rose as both the sheer number of card users and the amount of spending per person increased.
The number of credit card users jumped 4.6 percent on-quarter to 4.16 million while South Koreans spent an average of $521 in credit overseas, up 3.4 percent from three months ago.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr