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By Na Jeong-ju

Staff Reporter

South Korea has proposed to China and Japan the setting up of a joint electronic payment system controlling cash machines in their respective countries to enable travelers to withdraw cash at minimum costs from any machine, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Thursday.

``Late last year, the central banks of South Korea, China and Japan agreed to discuss the idea. We are now conducting feasibility studies,'' the bank said in a report.

The countries need to clear various obstacles to link ATMs and other cash machines. They have different settlement systems and different types of cash cards, so they need to standardize related systems and design new cards that are accepted by all machines in the countries, the BOK said.

``We will be able to launch a pilot system in a year or two if the countries decide to set up the joint network,'' a BOK official said.

Currently, Koreans use Visa or Master cards to withdraw cash in Tokyo and Beijing, and it is the same for Japanese and Chinese travelers in Korea. They pay high fees for using currency exchange services and the card firms' international network.

``Under the new system, people of Korea, China and Japan can save money when using cash machines in each others country. They also can use the same cash card in all the countries,'' the official said.

As Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo are making efforts to promote cultural exchanges, the card will become a popular item for travelers, he said.

Credit card spending by South Koreans in overseas countries soared to a new high of $6.37 billion in 2007. The number of outbound travelers increased 14.8 percent from a year ago to 13.3 million, which was twice the number of inbound travelers at 6.4 million.

Most foreign tourists paid for goods and services in cash last year, rather than with credit cards, because of the won's appreciation against major currencies, the BOK said.

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