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 2017.  Both the credit card turnover and total repayments registered double-digit 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 1,187,216 at end-December 2017, equivalent to an increase of 2.1% over a quarter earlier or 12.9% over a year earlier.  The numbers of pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong dollar (HKD) cards and renminbi (RMB) cards grew year-on-year by 12.6% (to 841,069), 6.0% (to 88,474) and 16.8% (to 257,673) respectively.  

Credit limit granted and delinquency

At end-December 2017, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao reached MOP28.5 billion, up 2.8% from end-September 2017 or 15.6% from end-December 2016. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP2.7 billion, of which the rollover amount totalled MOP771.8 million, representing 29.1% of credit card receivables.  The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, dropped from 1.50% at end-September 2017 to 1.38% at end-December 2017.

Turnover and repayment

For the fourth quarter of 2017, the credit card turnover totalled MOP5.6 billion, up 13.8% quarter-to-quarter or 13.2% year-on-year.  The cash advance turnover was MOP236.8 million, occupying 4.2% of total credit card turnover.  Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, amounted to MOP5.3 billion, up 3.1% from the previous quarter or 10.0% from the same period last year.