Hungarians using fewer credit cards

MNB

At the end of June, the number of credit cards was 76,000 fewer than one year ago, while use of credit lines is stagnating, according to data released by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB). At the same time, increasing home loans and domestic consumption are expected to boost credit card usage.

At the end of June this year, the number of credit cards in Hungary totaled 1,314,000, some 5.5% fewer than in June last year. Their market share of the total bank card market has also shrunk from 15.5% to 14.6% on a year-on-year basis. This is interesting given that interest rates also decreased in this period, according to figures published by business daily Világgazdaság.

The paper notes that the situation may change in the near future as home loans are showing a growing trend and internal consumption is also expected to increase. However, the credit card market is not linear. In 2008, consumers made efforts to close their credit lines, while in 2013 the market started expanding again.

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