Consumer Credit Index Q4 2018

Published Date: Thursday January 31st, 2019

Summary of the Q4 report:

The NPL 30 fell again in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to previous quarter, as it continued to steadily decreased throughout the year; late payment amount decreased from the third quarter. The number of overall consumer credit applications decreased slightly from last quarter, but credit card applications were still on the rise across the Kingdom as more and more people are applying to join Cambodia’s digital economy. The number of consumer loan accounts being opened remains on the rise, as does the total balance of these accounts.

  • Consumer Credit Applications:
    • The number of applications decreased overall by -0.27%
    • The application amount increased overall by +6%
    • Number of credit card applications increased across all geographic regions
  • Consumer Credit Performance:
    • Total number of accounts grew by +6.30% with balance increasing by +10.44%
    • Balance grew by +10.44% to reach $6.24 billion outstanding by the end of 2018
  • Consumer Credit Quality:
    • NPL 30 decreased to 1.18%, reflecting a positive increase in percentage of timely payments
    • The majority of credit customers remained committed to a single financial institute and hold a single account

Consumer Credit Application: This metric represents an intention of customers to acquire credit in the form of Personal Finance, Credit Card, or Mortgage.

In the fourth quarter of 2018, the number of personal finance applications fell slightly by -0.13%, and the number of mortgage applications fell by -6%. The number of credit card applications was on the rise, +19% from the previous quarter. On the whole, total transactions attempted to acquire credit in all the three forms of products throughout the quarter fell slightly by -0.27%.

At the same time that the number of applications had fallen, however, the percentage change in amount of money sought had continued to increase. This means that, even though slightly fewer people applied for credit in Q4, those who did fill out applications asked for more money on average across all product types. Q4 saw an overall +6% rise in amount of money requested via consumer credit applications from the quarter before. Mortgage applications saw a +1% increase in amount; credit card applications saw a +5% increase in amount; and personal finance applications saw a +8% increase in amount.

Over the past year, Q4 was the only quarter that saw growth in the amount of money applied for via credit card applications directly following a quarter (Q3) which similarly saw an increase in this category. Interestingly, all four geographical regions saw an increase in the number of credit card applications filed in Q4. The plateau area saw the most positive numbers of applications filed for all three forms of credit: it experienced an +8% rise in personal finance applications, +32% rise in credit card applications, while mortgage applications remained stable.

Consumer Credit Performance: This metric indicates the actual situation of consumer loans as of the reporting quarter.

Q4 saw the total number of accounts grew by +6.30%, a slight increase from the previous quarter which rose by +6.26%. By the end of 2018, the total number of consumer loan accounts had reached 1.08 million, accounted about 36% of the total accounts in the industry. Of this number, 81.09% were personal finance loans, while a much smaller 11.58% were mortgage loans and about 7.33% were credit card loans. Similarly, to last quarter, this growth was seen across all geographic regions of the Kingdom. The plain led the growth with a +7.2% increase in loan accounts.

Consumer loan balance continued to rise through the end of 2018 increased by +10.44% from Q3, the highest positive growth seen in this category over the past quarters. Total consumer credit outstanding balance reached $6.24 billion equal to 30% of the total outstanding balance of individual loan in the market. Personal finance loans continued to account for slightly more than half around 51.65% of all consumer credit outstanding loans, while mortgage accounted for 47.55%. Credit card loans continued to maintain the lowest portion of 0.8% of the total balance. Overall, the Kingdom saw positive growth in loan balance across all regions, with the Plateau leading at +12.8%, followed by the Plain at +10.7%, and a tie of +9.4% in the Coastal and Tonle Sap.

Consumer Credit Quality: This metric is measured using the ratio of 30 days plus past due. It reflects the performance of loans as of reporting quarter.

The instance of non-performing loans after 30 days (NPL 30) was even better in this quarter around 1.18% to indicate that a slightly higher percentage of loans are being paid in a timely manner. NPL 30 amount dropped in all geographic regions, ​except Plateau, +6.15% changed in NPL amount.

The number of customers who hold credit accounts with one singular financial institution remained high at 77.97% of all customers, but this is a slight decrease from the quarter before (Q3:78.56%) and the quarter before that (Q2:80.30%). The number of customers holding multiple loan accounts increased slightly, from 32.78% in Q3 to 33.72%. The number of customers holding one account stood at 66.28%; those holding two accounts make up 24.85%; those holding three accounts make up only 6.88%; and those with three or more accounts are just about 2% of the entire credit customer base.

“Though the consumer credit applications slightly dropped in number (-0.27%) compared to previous quarter, total year application in 2018 saw an increase of 35% compared to total figure of 2017. The total consumer credit accounts and balance kept increasing throughout the year to 1.08 million accounts and USD 6.24 billion of balance respectively. Closing the year 2018, total consumer credit account year on year growth of 28% while the total consumer balance increased by 37%.” said Mr. Oeur Sothearoath, Chief Executive Officer of CBC. He continued “the credit growth is still in the right track indicated through the continuing drop in NPL 30 at 1.18% as of Q4 2018 from 1.51% last year ratio as of Q4 2017, which implied the good quality of loan and portfolio management from financial institutions.”

To Read or download Full Report, please click HERE.

For further information, please contact:

Credit Bureau Cambodia (CBC)

Mr. Sophal Phay, Marketing Manager

Tel: +855 86 999 760

E-mail:  s.phay@creditbureau.com.kh