Credit cards in circulation grow

According to statistics released by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the total number of personal credit cards in circulation continued to grow in the second quarter of 2016. The credit card turnover rebounded from a quarter ago and credit card repayments dropped mildly.
The total number of personal credit cards in circulation was 1,009,590 at the end of June 2016, equivalent to an increase of 3.3 percent over the first quarter of the year.
The number of credit cards denominated in MOP, HKD and RMB were 715,147, 85,968 and 208,475 respectively. MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards witnessed respective growth of 3 percent, 2.6 percent and 4.8 percent quarter-to-quarter. Compared with a year ago, MOP cards and HKD cards rose 13.7 percent and 8.8 percent respectively, while RMB cards, the majority of which were MOP/RMB dual-currency cards, rose even faster by 28.5 percent.
At the end of June, the total credit limit extended by banks in Macao reached MOP23.7 billion, up 4.2 percent from the end of March.
Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, dropped 5.6 percent during the second quarter to MOP4.4 billion
The delinquency ratio – the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables – edged up from 1.35 percent at the end of the first quarter to 1.46 percent at the close of the second.