Total card receivables dipped 6% or $4.6 billion in the year's first quarter after rising 8.8% in last year's fourth quarter due to the receding effect of salaries tax payment by credit card, the Monetary Authority says.

The transfer of $155 million of rescheduled receivables outside the surveyed institutions' credit card portfolios during the quarter also contributed to the fall.

The total number of credit card accounts fell 0.1%. The rollover amount, which reflects the amount of borrowing by customers using their credit cards, fell to $24.4 billion from $24.6 billion at the end of December.

The charge-off amount fell further in the first quarter to $499 million or 0.67% of average receivables from $504 million at the end of last year. The quarterly annualised charge-off ratio dropped to 2.68% from 2.73%.

The delinquent amount fell to $234 million from $269 million at the end of last December. As a result the delinquency ratio fell to a new record low of 0.32%. The combined delinquent and rescheduled ratio also fell to a record low of 0.4%, despite a slight rise in the amount of rescheduled receivables to $54 million.