credit card for you

credit card for you

09.28.08 (11:08 am)   [edit]
Citibank Bhd expects growth rates for its credit card segment to match industry growth rates of 15% in the next couple of years. Chief country officer and chief executive officer Piyush Gupta said the growth for credit cards in the Malaysian market was slowing down.

But, he said, in Malaysia growth was not on a plateau stage as spending via credit card registered some 16% to 17% of total spending patterns. “This is lower than countries like Singapore and Hong Kong which has a spending rate of 20% to 25%,” he told reporters after the launch of “Use Credit Wisely” programme on Wednesday.

Piyush said this meant that there was still potential for the market to grow, albeit at a slower pace. “While it is still growing fast, it is not as high as a year or two ago. I think in the next couple of years, you will see a 15% growth,” he said.

Citibank currently has 1.3 million credit cardholders and is the leading credit card issuer with 20% market share of retail sales. The credit card segment makes up some 10% of the banks’ total asset or loan portfolio. On the bank’s non-performing loan rate, he said it was less than half of the industry rate of 3.5%.