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Credit card loans up for 3rd month, hit all-time high in March

Published: 21 Apr. 2026, 10:28

An advertisement sticker for loan offering is attached on an electricity pole in Seoul in April 2025. [NEWS1]

Outstanding credit card loans have risen for three consecutive months to reach an all-time high in March amid the economic slowdown and high inflation, data showed Tuesday.

Outstanding loans extended by nine major credit card firms amounted to 42.99 trillion won ($29.2 billion) as of the end of March, the largest amount ever, according to the data from the Credit Finance Association of Korea.

The figure had been on a constant increase for three consecutive months, reaching 42.3 trillion won in December, 42.6 trillion won in January and 42.9 trillion won in February, the findings showed.

But the credit card loan growth slowed to 0.21 percent on a monthly basis from a 0.7 percent gain the previous month.

The growth came as cash-strapped people turned to card firms to borrow money as banks have raised loan interest rates and tightened lending recently in line with the government's call for strictly managing loans to curb surging household debts.

Yonhap