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Major credit card companies in South Korea saw their earnings decline during the first half of 2008, according to the country's Financial Supervisory Service, which regulates financial institutions. Net income for some of the country's main card firms decreased by 42.5%, to 1.11 trillion won (US$1 billion or 698.7 million euros) from 1.93 trillion won during the same period last year. The figure takes into account data from BC Card, Shinhan Card Co. Ltd., Samsung Card Co. Ltd., Hyundai Card Co. and Lotte Card Co. Ltd. The loss of tax credits by some of the card companies was the primary cause for the dip in earnings, the Financial Supervisory Service says in a statement. Through 30 June, transactions on Korean credit cards reached 227.7 trillion won, up 14.2% from 199.3 trillion won for the same period last year, the agency says. Korean financial institutions had issued nearly 93 million credit cards by 30 June, up 2.6% from 90.6 million by 31 March. But the number of credit cards that have gone unused for at least a year increased by 6.8% between March and June, to 23.7 million from 22.2 million, the agency says. As of the end of June, the industry's average delinquency rate stood at 3.43%, down from 3.52% at the end of March, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.
