According to statistics released today 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 the credit card repayments dropped mildly.

Circulation

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% over a quarter earlier. The numbers of Pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) cards and Renminbi (RMB) cards were 715,147, 85,968 and 208,475 respectively. MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards witnessed respective growth of 3.0%, 2.6% and 4.8% quarter-to-quarter. Compared with a year ago, MOP cards and HKD cards rose 13.7% and 8.8% respectively, while RMB cards, the majority of which were MOP/RMB dual-currency cards, rose even faster by 28.5%.

Credit limit granted and delinquency

As at end-June 2016, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao reached MOP23.7 billion, up 4.2% from end-March 2016. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP2.3 billion while the rollover amount totalled MOP704.9 million, accounting for 30.4% 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 1.35% at end-March 2016 to 1.46% at end-June 2016.

Turnover and repayment

For the second quarter of 2016, the credit card turnover grew 2.3% quarter-to-quarter to MOP4.5 billion. The cash advance turnover was MOP230.8 million, accounting for 5.1% of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, dropped 5.6% from the previous quarter to MOP4.4 billion.