Plastic Preference
24 Jun, 2008
Sri Lanka credit card use climbs as inflation soars
June 24, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's ABC Group says its tri-lingual credit card is gaining popularity, especially in rural areas, and consumers are relying more on credit with inflation soaring to 30 percent.
Garment sector employees and rural youth apply for the card owing to its tri-lingual facility and ease of use, says Orville Pereira managing director, ABC Credit Card Company.
Credit card usage is on the increase since people prefer to use credit cards for daily purchases owing to high inflation, and save money for emergencies.
"Our volume of business has increased," Pereira told LBO at the appointment of a brand ambassador for the credit card.
The company appointed cricketer T M Dilshan from Sri Lanka's national team as the official ambassador for ABC credit cards.
At present, close to ten million rupees in transactions are conducted per month, using the ABC credit card which is accepted at major supermarkets and 2,500 other vendors throughout the island.
"Inflation is higher and people find it difficult to spend money; they use the credit card for daily purchases and save money (for emergencies)," Pereira said.
In Sri Lanka inflation is at the highest level in its history, touching 30 percent, and interest rates are over 20 percent.
Prices of fuel and other commodities have also gone up sharply in recent months.
The ABC credit card can be applied for using all three languages in the island: Sinhala, Tamil and English.
The applicants have also been given the opportunity to complete the documentation in a language they prefer, Pereira said.
"The bigger credit card companies always tap the market in Colombo and there is a lot of potential missed in the rural areas. This is due to the language problem."
Rural consumers were beginning to overcome their fear of using the plastic money, Pereira says.
The company plans to offer more facilities through credit cards in future and expand its reach, but Pereira says that depends on the state of the economy and market demand.
ABC Credit Card Company has issued over 10,000 cards in Silver, Gold and Platinum since November 2006.
ABC group's credit card and travel division have branches in Kandy, Ratnapura, Kurunegala, Negombo, Matara and Wennapuwa.
Sri Lanka had 891,163 active credit cards up to March 2008 of which 57,075 were local that were accepted only in the island. The rest were global cards with a worldwide reach.
The total outstanding balance on active cards was 29,954 million rupees with 697 million rupees from local cards.
News Source : http://www.lankabusinessonline.com |
