12-year-olds in Korea can now get their own credit cards. But are they ready?
Published: 26 May. 2026, 07:00
Updated: 26 May. 2026, 09:53
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- SHIN MIN-HEE
- [email protected]
![A customer pays with their credit card at a supermarket in Seoul on Dec. 15, 2022. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/26/483d6f6e-72ab-44e1-8fe7-ee8f8a593e54.jpg)
A customer pays with their credit card at a supermarket in Seoul on Dec. 15, 2022. [YONHAP]
Suh Hyung-kyung, a mother living in Goyang, Gyeonggi, thinks her 16-year-old son is terrible at managing money. It’s nothing personal; it’s merely a trait common to most teenagers.
Suh is among Korean mothers who are concerned about the government’s new law, which went into effect earlier this month, allowing minors as young as 12 to sign up for credit cards under parental consent. In Korea, that’s the equivalent of a first-year middle school student.
“If kids get used to the idea of spending first and paying later, they might start thinking that it’s okay to buy things even when they don’t actually have the money,” Suh told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “I’m afraid that giving them credit cards too early may distort their sense of financial responsibility.”
She added that she has no plans to allow her son to get a credit card until he is of age. Even after then, she will “probably encourage him to use a debit card whenever possible.”
Previously, only adults over the age of 19 were eligible to apply for credit cards. The minimum age requirement was significantly lowered through recent revisions to the enforcement decree of the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act, which aims to support credit card businesses and related ventures to seek financial convenience for the people and foster national economic growth.
The minimum age for debit card registration has been lowered from 12 to 7, while the eligibility age for postpaid transit functions remains unchanged.
The apparent benefits are that adolescents no longer must carry cash and that parents do not have to lend them their credit cards. However, some parents and financial experts are hesitant, saying that the policy could encourage unhealthy money management habits from an early age.
![Students arrive at a middle school in Seoul on Sept. 27, 2021. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/26/ee0185a3-c1fc-4722-ab77-cf560ed6162d.jpg)
Students arrive at a middle school in Seoul on Sept. 27, 2021. [NEWS1]
Shopping sprees galore?
The issuance of credit cards to minors is intended to reduce the use of “eomka” — a colloquial portmanteau for a parent’s credit card made from the first syllables of eomma, the Korean word for mother, and “card.”
Children in Korea are conventionally given eomka to carry around and use, oftentimes in lieu of a cash allowance, but this tacitly tolerated practice is actually prohibited under finance regulations as it counts as card lending, which can blur liability in cases of loss or theft.
The new policy’s goal is therefore to reduce the use of eomka as well as improve payment convenience “in line with the shift toward a cashless society,” the Financial Services Commission explained in a press release.
For potential cases of card loss, theft or fraudulent use, authorities explained that credit cards are easier to track via payment records and the government’s AI-based monitoring system that detects abnormal cyber transactions and suspicions of voice phishing crimes.
However, that’s not to say that children are now able to go on reckless shopping sprees with their newly issued credit cards.
Monthly spending limits are capped at 500,000 won ($330) and card usage is permitted only in categories tied to daily necessities, such as hospitals, restaurants, transportation, hagwon (cram school), online shopping, PC bang (internet cafe), hair salons and movie theaters. Transactions at entertainment venues or gambling-related businesses are restricted.
Children are added only as authorized users under the system, which is fundamentally based on their parents’ creditworthiness. Card payments are billed to the parents.
![Shinhan Card released its My TeenS credit card for adolescents on July 7, 2021, when it was selected as one of the government’s pilot issuers for teenage credit cards. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/26/25aa2c2b-74a9-4083-9413-742326c439ea.jpg)
Shinhan Card released its My TeenS credit card for adolescents on July 7, 2021, when it was selected as one of the government’s pilot issuers for teenage credit cards. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Pick me, pick me
Financial companies do not expect the policy to significantly boost earnings anytime soon, given that children’s spending levels are far lower than those of adults. Rather, it’s treated as an early lock-in strategy.
“For card issuers, membership loyalty is what really matters,” a finance industry representative who asked for anonymity told the Korea JoongAng Daily. “And in reality, customers rarely switch credit card companies as a lot of it comes down to familiarity and user experience.”
Some leading credit card companies in Korea, such as Shinhan Card, Samsung Card and Hana Card, are keen to bring in young customers. Shinhan Card released its My TeenS credit card on July 7, 2021, when it was selected as one of the government’s pilot issuers for adolescent credit cards. Samsung Card has also introduced a similar product lineup. Hana Card began offering the One Pick Style debit card targeting children 7 and older in late March.
Hyundai Card took a different stance and launched a financial education program through partnerships with elementary, middle and high schools, teaching students how to cultivate financial responsibility.
Building brand familiarity from a young age is seen as a natural progression toward using more of the company’s services, like applying for loans, after becoming an adult.
The policy is also seen as benefiting parents who want access to features such as deferred payments and installment plans for their children’s credit cards, given that the charges are billed to the parents anyway, unlike debit cards.
Prioritizing financial literacy
Among those opposing credit cards for minors, their biggest question is usually “why?”
“Why do kids need credit cards when they’re already allowed to have debit cards?” a commenter on a local parenting community on Naver wrote on April 24.
“Is this a nationwide project to put everyone into debt?” another commenter said. “Even adults are careful when using credit cards — yet we’re just letting kids use them now?”
A representative for local card issuer KB Kookmin Card said that the company is aware of such negative reactions and that it is taking a cautious approach.
“Although we believe that adolescents using credit cards will aid in financial education from a young age, our priority is ensuring safeguards are put into place,” the representative said, adding that it’s why the company has yet to release such services for minors.
“Proper financial education for kids is not about letting them abuse your credit, but about fostering the habit of spending allowance money wisely,” said Han Young-sup, head of the domestic think tank Finance and the Future.
![The logo of the Financial Services Commission is shown in this undated image. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/05/26/76caa672-5304-4acb-ba2d-ffae82fb0800.jpg)
The logo of the Financial Services Commission is shown in this undated image. [YONHAP]
Regarding concerns on the possibility that heavily indebted parents could open credit cards in their children’s names and leave them with damaged credit as well, Han said it was a highly unlikely scenario, though caution was still necessary.
He cited Korea’s massive credit card crisis in 2003, when nationwide deregulations led to a surge in cardholders, including teenagers, to encourage consumer spending. By the end of the year, nearly 4 million Koreans, or about 10 percent of the country's population then, had defaulted on credit card debt. The biggest card company at the time, LG Card, was on the brink of bankruptcy before merging with Shinhan Card in 2007.
“What we need is a balanced stance when it comes to teaching children about financial literacy,” Han said. “It’s not simply perceiving finance at face value, but the ability to understand the downsides and structural problems within the system.”
“Minors, including my son, should understand how money is correlated in our everyday lives,” Suh said. “It’s necessary for them to learn about the purpose of planning ahead and the connection between labor and income, whether it be saving up to buy what they want or making investments, rather than just assuming money falls from the sky.”
BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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