SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Koreans' overseas plastic card spending rose for the second straight quarter due to strong demand for online direct purchases of foreign products and for overseas travel, central bank data showed Tuesday.
Using credit, debit and prepaid cards, residents spent 5.93 billion U.S. dollars overseas in the July-September quarter, up 7.3 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.
It came after growing 3.3 percent in the April-June quarter on the back of the still high product purchases through Chinese online shopping malls and robust demand for overseas travel during the summer vacation.
The direct purchase of foreign products in cyberspace reached 1.53 billion dollars in the third quarter, slightly down from 1.55 billion dollars in the second quarter.
The number of outbound travelers expanded 4.8 percent over the quarter to 7.09 million in the third quarter.
Overseas spending per plastic card increased 3.4 percent to 314 dollars in the cited quarter.
The number of plastic cards used overseas was 18.88 million in the third quarter, up 3.8 percent from three months earlier. ■
