83% of deposits, withdrawals at banks processed online

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Over 83 percent of deposits and withdrawals are mediated by online banking, central bank data showed Thursday.

According to the Economic Statistics System (ECOS) of the Bank of Korea, 83.2 percent of deposits and withdrawals were processed by online banking in the first quarter of this year. The all-time-high figure marked an increase of 3.4 percentage points over the past year.

Online banking accounted for only 16.5 percent as of end-March 2005 when the central bank began compiling the data.

It has since climbed rapidly to exceed 50 percent as of the end of September 2018, before reaching 80 percent at the end of June last year.

This led to a decrease in deposits and withdrawals mediated by cash dispensers and ATMs.

In-person cash deposits and withdrawals accounted for an all-time low of 4.1 percent of the total end-March, a dramatic drop from 26.9 percent end-March in 2005.

The figure of 4.1 percent is a further decline from the COVID-19 pandemic during which time at least 6 percent sought in-person deposits and withdrawal services.

Banks are closing their branches, as accelerated by the growing preference for online banking.

The number of bank branches nationwide came to 3,905 as of end-December last year, down 13 from the previous year.

It is a drop of 1,761 compared to 5,666 branches a decade ago.

The number of ATMs commercial banks run came to 17,105 as of last June, down 31 percent from 24,832 in 2018, according to the Financial Supervisory Service.

Meanwhile, Thursday’s data shows the continuation of a steady decline in the number and volume of cash transfers mediated by ATMs. They hit the lowest point in the last 19 years due to the increased use of online banking. The amount of cash transferred and withdrawn through the cash dispensers network, which also includes ATMs, came to a combined 14.8 trillion won ($10.6 billion) in January.