The number of credit cards issued in South Korea fell below the 100 million mark in February due to the fallout from a massive data leak in January and government steps to limit their growth, industry data showed Sunday.
According to the data, the number of credit cards issued by Shinhan Card Co. and six other card companies was estimated at 99 million as of the end of last month.
It was the first time since 2008 that the number of credit cards in Asia's fourth-largest economy declined below the 100-million level.
Market watchers attributed the drop to the personal information leak that stoked cardholders' distrust of credit card issuers.
In late January, some 20 million people's private information, including bank accounts, credit card numbers and addresses, was stolen from local banks and credit card firms. The leak prompted customers to rush to banks and credit card companies to cancel or get new cards.
Also responsible for the decline were government measures to promote the use of debit cards and to force credit card companies to get rid of dormant cards, according to the market sources.
According to the data, the country's economically active population held an average of 3.9 credit cards per person as of end-February, the first time since 2007 that the ratio has fallen below 4.
Meanwhile, the number of debit cards issued in South Korea was estimated at 110 million at the end of February, showed the data. (Yonhap)