Number of credit cards continues to rise

The total number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macau continued to rise in the second quarter of 2018, according to the latest statistics from the Monetary Authority of Macau. Both the credit card turnover and total repayments witnessed double-digit growth from a year ago.

On the back of the increasing dual-currency and triple-currency cards, the total number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macau stood at 1.24 million at end-June 2018, equivalent to an increase of 2.2 percent over a quarter earlier or 10.4 percent over a year earlier. 

The number of MOP-denominated cards, HKD cards and RMB cards grew year-on-year by 10.2 percent (to 878,600), 3.8 percent (to 90,200) and 13.3 percent (to 274,500) respectively.

At the end of June 2018, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macau reached MOP30.2 billion, up 2.5 percent from end-March 2018 or 13 percent from end-June 2017. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP2.5 billion, of which the rollover amount totaled MOP774.7 million, representing 30.4 percent of credit card receivables.

The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, fell from 1.59 percent at end- March 2018 to 1.49 percent at end-June 2018.

For the second quarter of 2018, the credit card turnover totaled MOP5.5 billion, equivalent to a rise of 1.1 percent quarter-to-quarter or 12.1 percent year-on-year.

The cash advance turnover was MOP220.2 million, occupying 4 percent of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, dropped 5.4 percent from the previous quarter but rose 14.6 percent from the same period last year to MOP5.4 billion.