It wasn’t too long ago when a number of consumers started ditching their credit cards for fear of incurring massive debt. Lately, however, it appears that people are now open to take the risk of borrowing again.
Bank sources confirmed that the uptake of credit cards in the UAE is on the rise as more people have come to the UAE for work and the economy gets better.
“In the last two or three years after the crisis, people are becoming more open to sign up for a credit card. There has been a growing number of customers applying for credit products. I think this is largely driven by the overall positive sentiment in the economy,” a top official from a bank told Gulf News yesterday.
However, the use of credit card for cash withdrawal is still very low. At one bank, more than 95 per cent of credit card transactions are mainly for retail purposes.
“I don’t think credit card is used mainly to settle a loan. A credit card is typically given to people for cash withdrawal or buying things, although it’s possible that sometimes people withdraw cash with the card for other purposes,” the source added.
