Thailand's credit card business: Increased spending, minimizing risks.

(From Thai Press Reports)

Section: Research - Purchases via credit cards in the fourth quarter of 2005, which totaled THB149.984 Billion, shrinking 2.06 percent, quarter-on-quarter, reflected a slowdown in consumption. This failed to meet the expectation that spending would normally accelerate over the final quarter of the year (Q4/2005). This sluggish consumption may be attributed to rising inflation, reaching the highest level in several years, an upward trend in the interest rates and unusually high growth in the Q3/2005 due to card issuers' campaigns over the latter half of the year, leading to early spending by some credit cardholders in Q3.

On the whole, the credit card industry exhibited slowing growth in 2005. Credit card volume, as of the end of 2005, …