Korea Ranks High in Credit Card Issuance

Korea ranked second after the United States in the number of credit cards issued per person.

Korea Times cites data compiled by the Bank for International Settlements and the Bank of Korea. It’s reported that 1,959.7 credit cards were issued per 1,000 people in Korea in 2002, a figure slightly higher than 1,919.3 for Japan.

Globally, the United States tops the list with 4,355.2 cards being issued to 1,000 people as of late 2002, with the numbers remaining more or less the same for 2003.

Behind the U.S., South Korea and Japan were Canada with 1,653.4 and the United Kingdom with 1,065.8.

On reason for the high number of issuance in Korea is the easier procedure for issuing credit card when compared to Europe. Unfortunately a consequence for the ease in obtaining credit cards had been the extremely high number of defaults in Korea. Koreans also have among the highest outstanding balances on their cards in the world.