(ECNS) -- More than 40 percent of credit cards issued in China are inactive "zombie cards," according to an annual report by the China Banking Association (CBA), Beijing Business Today reports.
Some 58.7 percent of credit cards in China were active in 2014, according to the Blue Book on the Development of China's Credit Card Industry released by the CBA. The activity rate of credit cards has remained below 60 percent over consecutive years, coming in at 53.3 percent in 2011, 56.1 percent in 2012 and 57.8 percent in 2013.
During 2014, China issued 64 million credit cards, taking its total number to 460 million, which was a 17.9 percent increase. Besides, the volume of business transactions using credit cards hit 15.2 trillion yuan (about $2.4 trillion), which was a 16 percent climb.
Guo Tianyong, a researcher at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said the activity rate is actually higher now than before. It used to be even worse. A large number of customers are either fooled into signing up for credit cards, or they want nothing more than the gifts attached, according to the report.
It is interpreted that the People's Bank of China's new regulation, which was introduced last Friday to guide payments through non-bank institutions, could help boost the activity rate of credit cards issued by regular banks.
