Total card receivables rose 2.2% or $1.5 billion in the third quarter, after rising 2.1% in the previous quarter.

A transfer of $139 million in rescheduled receivables outside the credit-card portfolio was also recorded.

The Monetary Authority's survey on credit-card lending showed the rollover amount - which reflects the amount of borrowing by customers using their credit cards - fell to $24.4 billion in September from $24.9 billion.

The charge-off amount fell in the third quarter, to $542 million or 0.78% of average receivables, from $564 million in the previous quarter.

The annualised charge-off ratio dropped to 3.1% from 3.3% in the previous quarter.

The delinquent amount declined to $257 million in September, compared with $276 million in the previous quarter. The delinquency ratio dropped to 0.36% from 0.4%. 

The combined delinquent and rescheduled ratio dropped to 0.44% from 0.47%, while the amount of rescheduled receivables rose to $52 million.

The total number of credit-card accounts rose 0.5%.