S. Korea reports card boom

Overseas credit and debit cards spending by South Koreans hit a record quarterly high in the first quarter, as more people traveled abroad on holidays, central bank data showed on Thursday. South Korean consumers spent $4.02 billion overseas with credit, debit and check cards in the January-March quarter, according to the Bank of Korea. It was up 7.4 percent from the previous quarter, topping the $4 billion mark for the first time. The previous record high was $3.78 billion tallied in the third quarter of last year. Consumers reportedly refrained from spending money in the domestic market, but were willing to open their wallets in other countries, on the back of strong demand for overseas trips on holidays.