Number of credit cards slightly up

According to statistics released yesterday by the Monetary Authority of Macau, the total number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macau stood at 1,168,020 as of the end of September 2017, equivalent to an increase of 3.3 percent compared to a quarter earlier or an increase of 13.6 percent compared to a year ago.

Both credit card turnover and total repayments registered year-on- year growth.

The numbers of MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards grew year- on-year by 12.9 percent (to 824,057), 9.8 percent (to 92,534) and 17.8 percent (to 251,429) respectively.

At the end of September 2017, the total credit card credit limit granted by banks in the region reached MOP28.3 billion, up 3.9 percent from June 30 this year.

Credit card receivables amounted to MOP2.3 billion, of which the rollover amount totaled MOP749.5 million, representing 32.5 percent of credit card receivables. 

The delinquency ratio, which is the ratio of delinquent amounts overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, edged up from 1.38 percent at the end of June to 1.5 percent at the end of September.

Meanwhile, for the third quarter of 2017, the credit card turnover totaled MOP5 billion, up slightly by 0.9 percent quarter-to-quarter or 6.6 percent year-on- year.

The cash advance turnover was MOP217.2 million, occupying 4.4 percent of total credit card turnover. 

Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, amounted to MOP5.2 billion, up 8.1 percent from the previous quarter.