Credit card payments surpassed cash payments at convenience stores in South Korea for the first time last year.

CU, a major South Korean convenience store chain, saw the ratio of credit card payments at its stores increase from about ten percent ten years ago to 33 percent in 2013, 42 percent in 2014 and 48 percent in 2015.

The figure reached 55-point-one percent last year, surpassing cash payments for the first time.

CU said that the ratio is likely to exceed 60 percent soon, as it hit 57-point-three percent in the first quarter.

The growth is attributed to the increased use of credit cards even for the payment of small purchases.