South Korean consumers’ card transactions in the third quarter this year jumped 14.5 percent on-year, while consumer card payments soared 11.9 percent, partly on the back of a 10-day holiday early in September and the rise in car purchases on the domestic market, data showed Wednesday.

Consumers made nearly 4.5 billion card transactions, accounting for over 90 percent of all debit and credit card transactions in the third quarter, according to an estimate from the Credit Finance Association released Wednesday. 

Through the transactions, consumers spent 156.1 trillion won ($139.8 billion) over the cited period, making up over 80 percent of all card payments.

The association cited not only seasonal factors in consumption such as summer vacation, but also the prolonged 10-day Chuseok holiday, or Korean equivalent to Thanksgiving, when the number of visitors overseas tripled compared to that of the previous year in September.

Moreover, the base effect from car purchases dropped last year, as consumption taxes on cars rising from 3.5 percent to 5 percent starting July 2016 contributed to the trend, the Credit Finance Association added. Sales of domestic vehicles rose 13.2 percent on-year from July to September.

Credit and debit card payments among consumers and corporations, however, rose 4.4 percent on-year, down 6.4 percentage points, on corporations’ drop in tax payments through corporate cards since August. The number of transactions surged 14.4 percent.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)