TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese credit card holders spent NT$376.3 billion (US$12.3 billion) in August, marking a record for the month, according to data released Thursday by the Financial Supervisory Commission.

Although the figure was down from July’s NT$653.3 billion, the commission said the decline reflected the end of seasonal factors such as deferred comprehensive income tax payments and peak summer travel. It added that overall credit card spending remains on a solid growth track, demonstrating strong consumer confidence and the deepening adoption of cashless payments, according to CTEE.

From January through August, cumulative credit card spending reached NT$3.28 trillion. The figure marks the highest for the same period and a 5.53% increase from a year earlier.

As of the end of August, Taiwan had 32 credit card issuers and around 60 million cards in circulation, up by 200,000 from the previous month. The number of active cards edged up to 39.93 million, an increase of 70,000.

Banking Bureau Secretary General Chang Chia-kuei (張嘉魁) attributed the growth to two main factors. Non-cash payments are becoming increasingly popular, making consumers more accustomed to using credit cards, while deferred card payments, bank reward programs, and the ongoing expansion of merchant networks have helped boost transaction volumes.

According to the Central Bank, Taiwan’s non-cash payment ecosystem has expanded rapidly in recent years. Last year, interbank non-cash payment transactions totaled NT$260.5 trillion across 8.37 billion transactions, CTEE reported.

Electronic payments and card transactions accounted for more than 80% of all transactions, with their combined value reaching NT$4.5 trillion, up from NT$2.8 trillion in 2018.