Chart of the Day: Credit card balance to hit $13.7b in 2023

Singapore has 62,000 POS terminals per 1 million individuals.

Singapore’s credit card balance is expected to grow to S$13.7b (US$10.2b) in 2023, according to forecasts by data and analytics company GlobalData.

The revival of economic activities has spurred the credit card market to flourish once more, with balances outstanding rising by 2.6% in 2021 and 17.6% in 2022. 

Singaporeans are frequent users of credit cards, with the average frequency of card payments per person at 131.2 in 2022, up from 99.7 during pre-pandemic period in 2019, noted Ravi Sharma, lead banking and payments analyst at GlobalData.

“The country’s strong payment infrastructure, high consumer preference for card payments, and merchant acceptance have supported this growth, Sharma said, adding that the pandemic further accelerated the shift towards non-cash methods of payments.

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Singapore currently has 62,000 point of sale (POS) terminals for every one million individuals. This is reportedly much higher than in Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan, according to GlobalData.

In terms of repayments, 73.5% of consumers of the Singaporeans surveyed by GlobalData said that they paid their monthly credit card balances in full in 2022. This is lower than the 82% reported in 2020.

This implies that Singaporeans are gradually becoming comfortable taking on debt and carrying the balances, Sharma noted.

“The availability of flexible payment options offered by most banks and merchants in the form of instalment payment on credit cards are helping this trend, which is also contributing to the overall growth in credit card balance outstanding,” Sharma said.