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 third quarter of 2017. Both the credit card turnover and total repayments registered year-on-year growth.
Cards issued
On the back of prolonged growth of dual-currency and triple-currency cards, the total number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macao stood at 1,168,020 at end-September 2017, equivalent to an increase of 3.3% over a quarter earlier or 13.6% over a year earlier. The numbers of pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong dollar (HKD) cards and renminbi (RMB) cards grew year-on-year by 12.9% (to 824,057), 9.8% (to 92,534) and 17.8% (to 251,429) respectively.
Credit limit granted and delinquency
At end-September 2017, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao reached MOP28.3 billion, up 3.9% from end-June 2017 or 18.2% from end-September 2016. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP2.3 billion, of which the rollover amount totalled MOP749.5 million, representing 32.5% of credit card receivables. The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, edged up from 1.38% at end-June 2017 to 1.50% at end-September 2017.
Turnover and repayment
For the third quarter of 2017, the credit card turnover totalled MOP5.0 billion, up 0.9% quarter-to-quarter or 6.6% year-on-year. The cash advance turnover was MOP217.2 million, occupying 4.4% 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% from the previous quarter or 8.3% from the same period last year.