South Korean credit card firms report $1.93b net income for 2023

Total revenue and expenses rose during the period.

Eight credit card companies (CCCs) operating in South Korea have reported a net income of over $1.93b (KRW2.58t) in 2023, according to data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

This is more or less similar to the $1.95b (KRW2.61t) in net income the CCCs reported a year ago, the FSS said in a report.

Total revenues expanded $2.49b (KRW3.32t) from a year earlier. Credit card commission fees rose $570m (KRW759.6b); merchant fees were up $448.03m (KRW596.8b); and interest revenues rose $189.26m (KRW252.1b).

Total expenses rose to $2.51b (KRW3.35t) due to a rise in loan expenses and interest expenses.

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The ratio of loans classified as substandard or below (SBLs) was seen at 1.14% at the end of December, 0.29 percentage point (pp) higher than the 0.85% reported in 2022.

Bad loans coverage ratio was 109.9% as of end-2023. This is 32 pp higher from the 106.7% from a year earlier.