UOB: Credit card expenditure by women jumps 129% in 5 years

Doing their bit for Mother Earth: Shoppers at a hypermarket packing their purchases into recyclable bags that they brought along with them.

KUALA LUMPUR: Credit card expenditure among Malaysian women has jumped 129% in the last five years, while men’s credit card spend has grown by 71% over the same period. 

According to data released by UOB Malaysia, female credit card spend has been growing at almost twice that of men’s since 2011.

The bank noted that women were increasingly using their credit cards to pay for basic necessities such as insurance, groceries and utilities; as well as other items such as travel and lifestyle shopping .

In 2016 alone, the bank said women cardholders spent 15% more than they did in 2015 on insurance-related products compared to men who spent 12% more on insurance. 

Women’s spend on groceries saw a 10% growth over the year in 2016, in contrast to men who spent just 2% more on their cards for this necessity.

“As for the niceties in life, women’s credit card spend showed significant growth in the areas of travel and lifestyle shopping,” it said.

In 2016, women spent 28% more on travel and 13% more on their cards for lifestyle shopping compared with their spend in 2015. 

For both these categories, it was more than twice that of men who spent just 14% and 5% more on travel and lifestyle shopping, respectively.

UOB Malaysia MD and country head of personal financial services, Ronnie Lim said the growth in women’s credit card spending across both discretionary and non-discretionary products and services reflected women’s greater earning capacity and balanced spending priorities.

“As more women join the workforce and enjoy greater financial security, so does the size of their disposable incomes,” he said.