BANGKOK, March 12 (TNA) – The number of credit cards in use in Thailand as of the end of January surged by 995,763, with non-bank institutions becoming the top card issuers, according to the Bank of Thailand.
The central bank reported the latest tally of credit cards as of the end of January totalled 11,998,570, up 9.05 per cent from the same period the year before.
Of this, 4,668,072 cards were issued by local commercial banks, up by 258,153 cards from the corresponding period of the previous year, 1,301,989 by foreign bank branches, up by 81,842, and 6,028,768 by non-banking institutions, a rise of 655,768 cards.
Current outstanding loans in the credit card sector total Bt175.95 trillion, up Bt7.16 billion or 4.25 per cent.
Spending through credit cards as of the end of January totalled Bt83.17 billion, up Bt9.08 billion or 12.24 per cent from the same period the year before.
Of this, Bt60.63 billion was spent locally and Bt2.69 billion was used abroad.
Cash advance withdrawals totalled Bt19.86 billion, up Bt1.22 billion.
Lending through credit cards continued to decline due to the economic slowdown and a lack of confidence among credit cardholders. (TNA)-E005