Credit card spending last month soared 21 percent year-on-year to NT$289 billion (US$9.4 billion), the highest for April, thanks to recovering spending on retail goods, dining and overseas travel, data released on Monday by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed.
Cumulative credit card spending totaled NT$1.22 trillion in the first four months of the year, up 19 percent from NT$1.02 trillion a year earlier, commission data showed.
Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) led all banks in terms of credit card spending, rising 30 percent annually to NT$49.98 billion after overseas spending surged 140 percent, while domestic spending on dining and at department stores increased 60 and 50 percent respectively, the bank said.
Photo: Chen Wen-cheng, Taipei Times
Cathay United last year announced it would end its cobranded credit card partnership with Costco Wholesale Taiwan Ltd (台灣好市多) and also introduced the CUBE card.
It said that the number of CUBE cards it has issued rose to 5 million last month.
Spending with the CUBE card totaled NT$70 million in the first quarter and made up 40 percent of the bank’s total credit card spending during the period, indicating its strong appeal, it said.
CTBC Bank (中信銀行) ranked second with credit card spending of NT$47.8 billion last month, up 28 percent year-on-year, which the bank attributed to a 240 percent increase in travel spending.
The bank said its cardholders’ overseas spending rose 65 percent, while spending on dining, transportation and luxury goods all gained more than 30 percent.
Cumulative credit card spending rose 26 percent annually to NT$201.3 billion for the first four months, which it said was due to the ongoing expansion of its customer base and growing payment channels.
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) ranked first among banks in terms of the number of newly issued cards, FSC data showed.
The bank gave out 260,000 new cards last month, including its new cobranded card with Costco, while CTBC followed with 97,300 new cards.
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