HK credit card receivables up 10.4% in Q4

HONG KONG -- Total credit-card receivables in Hong Kong rose 10.4 percent to HK$ 111.3 billion ($14.34 billion) in the fourth quarter last year, after increasing 2.1 percent in the previous quarter, the Monetary Authority announced Friday.

The total number of credit-card accounts rose 0.9 percent to 16.3 million. The rollover amount, which reflects the amount of borrowing by customers using their credit cards, fell 0.8 percent during the quarter.

The charge-off amount rose from 456 million HK dollars in the third quarter to HK$ 482 million in the fourth quarter.

The amount of rescheduled receivables transferred outside the surveyed institutions' credit-card portfolios fell to HK$ 116 million from HK$ 125 million in the previous quarter.

The delinquent amount rose to HK$ 221 million at the end of December 2012 from HK$ 212 million at the end of September. The delinquency ratio fell slightly to 0.2 percent. The combined delinquent and rescheduled ratio, after taking into account the transfer of rescheduled receivables, fell to 0.26 percent.