Credit card spending in Taiwan approached a five-year high in the first half of 2022 as local consumers showed a renewed willingness to spend as concerns eased over COVID-19, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).
Credit card spending exceeded NT$250 billion (US$8.33 billion) in June for a second consecutive month, bringing total spending in the first six months to NT$1.54 trillion, up NT$108.4 billion from the first half of 2021, FSC data showed.
It was the second highest total for the first half of the year since similar credit card data was first compiled in 2018, trailing only NT$1.596 trillion during the same period of 2019, according to the FSC.
In June alone, credit card spending hit NT$264.4 billion, up NT$6.4 billion from May.
Tung Cheng-chang (???), deputy director of the FSC’s Banking Bureau, said the higher credit card spending in June reflected a recovery in credit card spending on travel, dining-out and shopping as concerns over the spread of COVID-19 eased.
COVID-19 case numbers in June still numbered in the tens of thousands, with more than 100 deaths per day, but consumers were less concerned due to the belief that the surge peaked either in late May or early June and the Omicron variant was not as lethal as previous variants.
In terms of individual banks, spending using Cathay United Bank credit cards topped all banks at NT$43.7 billion in June, ahead of CTCB Bank at NT$41.1 billion and E. Sun Commercial Bank at NT$36.5 billion.
Cards issued by the three private banks accounted for almost 46 percent of all credit card spending in Taiwan in June, FSC data showded.
CTBC Bank issued more than 100,000 new credit cards in June, making it the largest credit card issuer in Taiwan for the eighth straight month, ahead of E. Sun Bank with 80,000 new credit cards issued and Cathay United Bank with 56,000 new credit cards issued.
For the first six months of 2022, spending using credit cards issued by Cathay United Bank led all banks at NT$253.3 billion, followed by CTBC Bank with NT$241.3 billion, and E. Sun Bank with NT$212.3 billion, FSC statistics showed.
As of the end of June, a total of 53.90 million credit cards were in circulation in Taiwan, up 0.45 percent from a month earlier and also up 5.27 percent from a year earlier, the FSC said.
The non-performing ratio of credit card debt stood at 0.18 percent on average as of the end of June, down 0.01 percentage points from a month earlier and down 0.05 percentage points from a year earlier, the FSC said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel