Second quarter credit card receivables up 3.9% to $87bn

Yet delinquent amount surged to $176mn at end of June from $162 million at end of March.

The Monetary Authority said on Monday total card receivables increased 3.9% to around $87 billion in the second quarter, after falling 4.4% in the first quarter.

The total number of credit-card accounts rose 2.2% to 14.5 million. The rollover amount, which reflects the amount of borrowing by customers using their credit cards, rose by 0.3% during the quarter.

The charge-off amount rose 0.3% in the second quarter to $334 million, or around 0.4% of average receivables, at the end of June. The quarterly annualised charge-off ratio remained relatively stable at 1.57% compared with 1.55% in the previous quarter, according to a HKMA report.

The amount of rescheduled receivables transferred outside the surveyed institutions’ credit-card portfolios fell to $75 million from $88 million in the previous quarter.

The delinquent amount rose to $176 million at end of June from $162 million at end of March. Correspondingly, the delinquency ratio grew to 0.2% from 0.19% at end of March. The combined delinquent and rescheduled ratio, after taking into account the transfer of rescheduled receivables mentioned above, remained at 0.28%.