SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- South Koreans' overseas plastic card spending grew in the second quarter due to higher online purchases of foreign products and higher per-card spending, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Using credit, debit and prepaid cards, residents spent 5.52 billion U.S. dollars overseas in the April-June quarter, up 3.3 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.
It rebounded after sliding 5.2 percent in the first quarter on the back of higher product purchases through Chinese online shopping malls and higher per-card spending that offset a lower number of domestic residents going abroad.
The direct purchase of foreign products in cyberspace expanded 15.2 percent over the quarter to 1.55 billion dollars in the second quarter.
The direct products purchase through Chinese online retailers soared 24.3 percent to 1.04 billion dollars in the cited quarter.
The number of outbound travelers totaled 6,767,000 in the second quarter, down 13.2 percent from three months earlier.
Overseas spending per plastic card grew 0.9 percent to 304 dollars in the second quarter.
The number of plastic cards used overseas was 18.18 million in the second quarter, up 2.4 percent from the previous quarter. ■
