A report indicates that in Korea, cardholders own 3.78 cards on average, turning the country's per capita credit and debit card issuance into the second highest in the world. US is positioned first with an average of 5.3 credit and debit cards per capita, while Singapore ranks third with 2.98 cards on average. The following positions are occupied by UK, with 2.36 cards on average, Netherlands (1.92 cards) and Belgium (1.57 cards).

In Korea, the number of plastic cards that have been issued has reached 183 million. Of these, 92 million are credit cards, while the rest of 91 million represent check and debit cards.  The report claims that as far as the private sector is concerned, the level of cash possession is low. The private cash-M1 ratio hit 5.8 percent, the second lowest among the 14 countries involved in the study. M1 measures the amount of money and checks in circulation. Average cash possession per capita in Korea accounts for less than one-fifth of that of the US (USD 482 versus USD 2,736).

Data have been released by the Bank of Korea.