Competition is heating up in the credit market of Singapore as the economy rebounded strongly to record a growth of 14.7 percent last year, local media reported Monday.
With rising wages lining the pockets of consumers and few out of work, credit card issuing firms are vying for a slice of the pie, local daily The Straits Times reported on Monday.
Standard Chartered Bank said it has seen strong growth over the past year in all its credit card segments, from cards meant for mass market consumers to those aimed at affluent priority banking customers who earn at least 16,000 Singapore dollars (12,308 U.S. dollars) a month or have net assets of more than 200,000 Singapore dollars (153,846 U.S. dollars) with the bank.
American Express Singapore recorded double-digit year-on-year growth in total spending by its card members for the first ten months of 2010.
But the growth in credit card usage last year was not evenly spread, with the affluent outperforming the rest of the market.
Banks use both income and other criteria to determine who qualifies to be part of the elite group. But generally, income is the main guide and the wealthy card holders tend to earn more.
