According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the total number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macao continued to rise in the fourth quarter of 2019. Both the credit card turnover and total repayments witnessed year-on-year growth.
Cards issued
On the back of the increasing dual-currency and triple-currency cards, the total number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macao stood at 1,427,312 at end-December 2019, equivalent to an increase of 1.7% over the previous quarter or 8.8% from a year ago. The numbers of pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong dollar (HKD) cards and renminbi (RMB) cards advanced year-on-year by 8.0% (to 996,607), 4.1% (to 97,836) and 13.0% (to 332,869) respectively.
Credit limit granted and delinquency
At end-December 2019, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao reached MOP39.7 billion, up 2.7% from end-September 2019 or 13.4% from end-December 2018. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP3.0 billion, of which the rollover amount totalled MOP898.4 million, representing 30.0% of credit card receivables. The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, rose 0.14 percentage points to 1.61% when compared with end-September 2019.
Turnover and repayment
For the fourth quarter of 2019, the credit card turnover totalled MOP6.3 billion, equivalent to a rise of 5.4% quarter-to-quarter or 3.7% year-on-year. The cash advance turnover was MOP225.2 million, occupying 3.6% of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, rose 1.7% from the previous quarter or 6.3% from the same period last year to MOP6.2 billion.