Despite debt lessons of the financial crisis and stricter rules, UAE is still managing to spend big on plastic
The UAE's credit card users have clocked up an Dhs11 billion bill.
The staggering figure equates to nearly half of all money owed on cards across the whole Gulf region.
And while experts say the situation is improving as banks toughen up their lending policies, readers told 7DAYS they were still being regularly hounded to take out more cards or loans.
Research carried out by UK-based Lafferty Group showed there were 3.7 million credit cards in the UAE in 2010.
Together they had an estimated balance of $3 billion (Dhs11 billion). Across the whole of the Gulf, the figure is $6.8 billion.
CUSTOMERS CLAIM CARD OFFERS STILL RIFE
UAE credit card users even eclipsed extravagant Saudis, who owed $2.3 billion - despite a population six times bigger.
But according to Andrew Neeson, the head of research at the Lafferty Group, banks and cardholders are being more careful with their money than at the peak of the UAE's credit boom. Outstanding debt stood at $3.3 billion in 2009.
He said individuals have slowed borrowing, and banks have lowered credit limits and tightened criteria for approving cards.
"Banks are being more cautious and so are consumers," he told 7DAYS.
Lenders are now bringing out cards targeting the 'premium' end of the market, as these high-earners are seen as a safer bet, he added.
Whereas less affluent customers rack up credit card charges just to live, the more affluent segment use cards as "a convenience tool".
But, when 7DAYS asked readers via facebook and Twitter whether they were still being offered credit, people said they were.
One tweeter wrote: "I had one call yesterday, then my co-worker who sits next to me got a call after I refused, this repeats almost every week."
Another reader said her husband had been offered three cards in the past week.
Someone who knows the dangers is Filipina Emily Sayson, 50, who works in a garments factory and earns Dhs5,000 a month. She owes Dhs12,000 on cards and Dhs50,000 in loans.
She said: "I'm a single mother so I had no choice.
"Expenses are high in Dubai. The standard of living has increased but salaries haven't."
© 7Days 2011
