The number of personal credit cards issued by banks in Macau exceeded 1.24 million at the end of the first half, an increase of 2.2% and 10.4% compared to March 2018 and June 2017, respectively, the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM) said.

The AMCM also reported that the increase in the number of credit cards issued benefited from the continued growth of cards in two and three currencies.

The number of credit cards denominated in patacas (MOP), Hong Kong dollars (HKD) and yuan (CNY) increased 10.2% (to 878,590), 3.8% (90,210) and 13.3% (274,560), respectively.

The credit limit of credit cards issued by banks in Macau at the end of June reached 30.2 billion patacas, an increase of 2.5% compared to the end of March 2018 and 13.0% compared to the same period of 2017.

The ratio of unpaid debt or with a delay of more than three months fell from 1.59% at the end of March to 1.49% at the end of June.

The credit used in the second quarter was 5.5 billion patacas, equivalent to quarterly growth of 1.1% and annual growth of 12.1%, the AMCM reported.

Macau had a population of 656,700 people at the end of the first quarter of 2018. (macauhub)