Credit card usage on the rise

BANGKOK, 10 January 2010 (NNT) – The Bank of Thailand (BoT) has reported a 7.1% increase in credit card usage, signaling a clear sign of consumption growth.

According to the BoT’s November report, 13.4 million instances of services via cash advance and credit cards were logged, an increase of 126,747 instances or 0.96% from October. The use of credit cards from domestic commercial banks has increased the most by 5.4 million cards, followed by non-banks and foreign commercial banks by 1.3 million and 6.6 million cards respectively.

Consumers spent 85.6 billion THB in November last year, an increase of 5.6 billion THB from October 2009 or 7.1%. Out of the total, up to 65.7 billion THB or 9.73% was used domestically of which 36 billion THB was spent through Siam Commercial Bank, followed by non-banks with 20.8 billion THB and foreign commercial bank with 8.9 billion THB.

Bank analysts have said that the increases bode well for the economy as they are a clear indication of heightened consumption and circulation.