South Korea’s digitisation doesn’t spell the end for cash, despite uptake in mobile app payments
- Mobile phones are accelerating the trend of living without any physical money in Asia's fourth-largest economy
- South Koreans are slowly doing away with cash, but many older people still rely on it to make payments
The smartphone is delivering seismic changes to all aspects of daily life and it surely is feeding through in almost all financial transactions and payment processes in South Korea, one of the most wired countries in the world.
Beyond credit cards, mobile phones are accelerating the trend of living without any physical money in Asia's fourth-largest economy, and a quick peep into the daily lives of young South Koreans may offer a glimpse at just what it might be like to live in such an environment.
Park Kyung-jun, an office worker, starts his day with a bus ride to his workplace in Bundang, just south of Seoul, which he pays for with his mobile app credit card.
“I do not normally carry any cash and I cannot remember the last time I withdrew any cash from a bank teller,” says the 35-year-old.
He uses the same cardless mobile app card throughout the day to pay for most of his spending, including his lunch, coffee and, occasionally, dinner. Even at home, he uses either his mobile card or other cashless payment methods to shop, dine and play.