More consumers struggling to pay credit card bills, personal loans on time

More consumers struggling to pay credit card bills, personal loans on time

By Irene Chan, 938LIVE
Posted: 24 February 2009 1804 hrs

SINGAPORE: More consumers in Singapore are struggling to pay their credit card bills and personal loans on time.



According to data from Credit Bureau Singapore (CBS), the percentage of consumers who missed at least one payment on their credit cards climbed from 1.45 per cent in September 2008 to 1.67 per cent in December 2008.

A year back in December 2007, the delinquency rate stood at 1.48 per cent.

However, CBS said these figures still remained well below the highs registered during the SARS downturn when the average delinquency rate was 2.6 per cent.

Consumers in their thirties had a higher tendency to miss their credit card payments.

In December, more than four in ten who were behind with their payments were aged between 30 and 39.

The bureau said male consumers were also more likely to miss their credit payments.

More than two-thirds of those who had delinquent accounts last December were males.

CBS said more consumers with personal loans also started to fall into arrears on their loans in the final months of last year.

The proportion of consumers that had delinquent personal loan accounts rose from 4.2 per cent in September 2008 to 5.3 per cent in December 2008.

CBS executive director William Lim said the latest statistics show that more consumers may be under stress from the impact of layoffs and the economic downturn.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/411167/1/.html