HK's credit card receivables up 10.9% in 4Q

Hong Kong's total credit card receivables went up 10.9 percent to US$13 million in the fourth quarter of 2011 from a year earlier.

This was boosted by the festive spending around the year end and the payment of salaries tax using credit cards, according to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

The total number of credit card accounts increased 1.9 percent to 15.1 million.

The rollover amount, which reflects the amount of borrowing by customers using their credit cards, climbed 8.3 percent during the quarter.

The charge-off amount declined 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 360 million HK dollars, accounting for about 0. 4 percent of the average receivables.

The amount of rescheduled receivables transferred outside the surveyed institutions' credit card portfolios decreased to 67 million HK dollars from 87 million HK dollars in the previous quarter last year.

The delinquent amount increased to 188 million HK dollars at end-December 2011 from 166 million HK dollars at end-September 2011. Correspondingly, the delinquency ratio edged up to 0.19 percent from 0.18 percent at end-September 2011.

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