Chinese credit card delinquencies on the rise

Cici Cao

Chinese banks saw rising delinquencies on credit cards in the first half of the year with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's (1398) rate exceeding 3 percent.

Thirteen of 16 listed banks reported an increase in credit cards delinquency rates, mainland media reports said.

Among the major state-owned banks besides ICBC, Bank of Communications (3328) reported a credit card non-performing loan ratio of over 2 percent.

China Construction Bank's (0939) credit card NPL ratio, Postal Savings Bank of China's (1658) credit card overdraft and other NPL ratio, and Bank of China's (3988) credit card impaired loans were all more than 1 percent, according to the reports.

However, all the banks have different standards on how they report credit card non-performing rates and ratios.