China's bank card issuance at 4.39b

A Chinese woman shows credit cards and other bank cards in Qionghai city, south Chinas Hainan province, April 14?2012. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - Total bank cards issued by China's financial institutions reached 4.39 billion at the end of the first quarter, putting average per capita bank card ownership at 3.24, the latest data from the central bank showed on Monday.

In breakdown, debit card issuance amounted to 3.98 billion, and credit cards totaled 414 million, according to a report released by the People's Bank of China.

As of the end of March, financial institutions had extended 4.8 trillion yuan in credit to credit card owners, increasing 31.12 percent year on year.

Credit card loans that were more than six months overdue rose to 28.2 billion yuan at the end of March, accounting for 1.5 percent of the total credit loans outstanding, up 0.13 percentage points from the percentage seen at the end of last year, the central bank said.