Credit card spending in May grew 11.6 percent from a year earlier to NT$239.6 billion (US$8.55 billion), as online shopping helped offset the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on leisure and luxury spending, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) data showed yesterday.
May’s credit card spending was also NT$4.7 billion higher than a month earlier, data from the commission showed.
A spike in COVID-19 infections from the middle of May had a mixed effect on credit card spending, Banking Bureau Deputy Director-General Lin Chih-chi (林志吉) told a videoconference.
Credit card spending at brick-and-mortar stores fell, as consumers reduced their expenditure at department stores, movie theaters and gyms, as well as on domestic travel, after a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert was imposed on May 19, which banned dining in restaurants among other restrictions, Lin said.
That removed billions of New Taiwan dollars of credit card expenditures for each bank, Lin said, adding that the most affected three banks lost NT$5.3 billion in spending.
However, people shopped online for groceries as many worked from home, and the increase in spending at online outlets offset the decline in spending at physical stores, Lin said.
For the first five months of the year, cumulative credit card spending was NT$1.22 trillion, up 7.02 percent from a year earlier.
Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) reported credit card spending of NT$40.9 billion in May, followed by E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) with NT$35.2 billion and CTBC Bank (中信銀行) with NT$34.95 billion, the data showed.
Meanwhile, e-payment companies continued to gain traction, reporting a combined spending of NT$7.7 billion, up 81 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
That could be attributed to consumers favoring virtual payment tools to reduce physical contact, while more businesses also adopted the payment tools, the commission said.
Jkopay Co (街口支付) registered NT$2.59 million in spending in May, followed by Line Pay Money, a service offered by LINE Biz+ Taiwan Ltd (連加網路) and iPass Corp (一卡通票證), with NT$2.04 million and E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) with NT$1.29 million, the data showed.
Transfers between people totaled NT$4.46 billion, up 147 percent year-on-year, the data showed.
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