Credit card turnover in double digit growth

The total number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macau continued to rise in the fourth quarter of 2017. According to statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macau, both credit card turnover and total credit card repayments registered double-digit growth year-on-year.

On the back of prolonged growth of dual-currency and triple-currency cards, the total number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macau stood at 1,187,216 at end-December 2017, equivalent to an increase of 2.1 percent over a quarter earlier or 12.9 percent over a year earlier.  The number of Pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong dollar (HKD) cards and Chinese Yuan (RMB) cards grew year-on-year by 12.6 percent (to 841,069), 6 percent (to 88,474) and 16.8 percent (to 257,673) respectively.

At end-December 2017, credit card limits granted by banks in Macau reached MOP28.5 billion, up 2.8 percent from end-September 2017 or 15.6 percent from end-December 2016. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP2.7 billion, of which the rollover amount totaled MOP771.8 million, representing 29.1 percent of credit card receivables.  The delinquency ratio, (the ratio of delinquent amounts overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables), dropped from 1.50 percent at end- September to 1.38 percent at end-December.

For the fourth quarter of 2017, credit card turnover totaled MOP5.6 billion, up 13.8 percent quarter-to-quarter or 13.2 percent year-on-year.  The cash advance turnover was MOP236.8 million, occupying 4.2 percent of total credit card turnover.  Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, amounted to MOP5.3 billion, up 3.1 percent from the previous quarter or 10 percent from the same period last year.