Macao's credit cards in circulation up 6.4% in Q3

Macao saw the total number of personal credit cards in circulation up 6.4 percent over the previous quarter to 503,221 at the end of September this year, according to the latest figures released Friday by the Monetary Authority of Macao. Of the credit cards, the number of Pataca cards, Hong Kong Dollar cards and RMB cards were 385,281, 65,511 and 52,429 respectively in the period, increasing by 5.8 percent, 2.9 percent and 15.5 percent quarter-on-quarter, the figures indicated. As of the end of September this year, credit limit granted by banks in Macao amounted to 8.5 billion patacas (1.06 billion U. S. dollars), up 4.9 percent from the end of June 2011. The delinquency ratio, which is the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivable, was 0.98 percent in the period. Meanwhile, the credit card turnover increased 8.2 percent quarter-on-quarter to 2.5 billion patacas (310 million U.S. dollars) in the period, according to the Monetary Authority.