Don’t miss another episode of Truth In Data! Click on the red bell in the lower-left of your screen to receive notifications as soon as the episode publishes.
Data for today’s episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s Viewpoint: Debit Card Trends in the Asia-Pacific Region
Interesting Debit Trends in Japan & South Korea:
- Japan has a high rate of financial inclusion, with 98% of people having bank accounts, and a history of rapid technology adoption – but not so much with payments.
- Cash is still the single most frequently used form of payment, accounting for 65% of all transactions.
- The Japanese government has incentivized card transactions with 5% rewards and credit cards appear the likely beneficiary.
- In contrast to Japan, only 20% of South Korea’s transactions are in cash and merchants are required by law to accept cards and electronic payments.
- Credit cards dominate Korean transactions, with only 21% of all card transactions being debit.
- The Korean government incentivized credit card use, though it’s now pushing more debit card use as citizens takeINT on worrying levels of debt.
About Report
Mercator Advisory Group released a new report titled Debit Card Trends in the Asia-Pacific Region and finds that debit card use in the region is far from monolithic. Countries such as Australia and Japan have some similarities to the North American debit market, with a high degree of financial inclusion and a long history of card use. In contrast, countries such as China, India and Indonesia have relied primarily on cash until very recently.
”We find some interesting trends in debit card adoption in each country. Those nations that have been primarily cash based societies are moving towards mobile based solutions supported by QR codes at the point of sale at an incredible pace. This approach also supports another trend; the preference for local networks with technology and data that never leave the country,” comments Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group and author of the report.
