Since the enforcement of ‘Improper Solicitation and Graft Act (Kim Young-Ran Act)’ on September 28th, corporate card use in paying for meals and liquor has decreased in purchase volume.

BC Card (President and CEO, Joon Hee Suh, www.bccard.com) has released a big data analysis report stating a decrease of corporate card purchase volume in restaurants and bars by 8.9% and 9.2% respectively during the two days directly after the enforcement of Kim Young-Ran Act (9/28~29) compared to the same period four weeks prior. [See <Table 1> for reference]

Corporate card use in Hanjeongsik (Korean Table d’hote) restaurants has shown the sharpest drop, 17.9% in purchase volume, followed by Chinese restaurants with a 15.6% decrease. Comparing the data to that of the week prior to the Act enforcement, corporate card purchase volume in Hanjeongsik restaurants has decreased by 0.1% and in Japanese restaurants by 6.0%. BC Card Big Data Center has analyzed that one of the factors behind the falling numbers is a decrease in guest entertaining. [See <Table 2> for reference]

Number of transactions by corporate cards has also dropped. Comparing the number during Wednesday and Thursday post the enforcement (9/28~29) to that of 4 weeks prior (8/31~9/1), restaurant category has shown a 1.7% decrease and bar/pub category a 6.1% decrease. Number of transactions by personal cards has shown a similar decline in these merchants. [See <Table 3> for reference]

However when comparing the data with that of one week prior the Act, the number of transactions by personal cards shows a surprising increase. This could be interpreted that cardholders who did not use their personal cards for meals have turned to use their own cards after the enforcement of the Act. [See <Table 4> for reference]

As for corporate card purchase volume per transaction, it has decreased by 7.3% in restaurants and 3.3% in bar/pubs. This means that average ticket size in these merchants are decreasing and BC Card analyzes this is due to the price limit set by Kim Young-Ran Act. [See <Table 5> for reference]

BC Card has checked the direct aftermath of Kim Young-Ran Act: an overall decrease in corporate card use. BC Card will continue to utilize data big data analysis to predict consumer lifestyle pattern and provide better marketing and services for its clients.