Looks like credit card debt is on the rise as 3.6 million cardholders have a combined outstanding balance of RM36.9 billion!
This is based on data released by the Statistics Department in 2016, with the figures representing 20 million population aged between 20 to 74 years old.
Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Lee Chee Leong told the Dewan Negara that from this outstanding debt, 6.2 % is debt not exceeding three months’ worth RM2.3 billion. This is followed by an outstanding balance of more than three months, or the non-performing loans, which is at 1.1% which is worth RM0.4 billion.
He also said that a total of 845 people, aged 30 and above, were also declared bankrupt due to unpaid credit card bills in the first half of 2017. On an average, 43.6% of total cardholders settled their credit card debt completely in the January to June 2017 period, while another 43.6% pay up at least 5% of the outstanding balance in the same period.
The remaining 12.8% are cardholders who do not pay even the minimum payment of their outstanding balance before or within the due date.
