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Macau had about 348,900 credit cards in circulation at the end of June, up 9.1% from the 319,800 credit cards at the same period last year, according to second-quarter data from the Monetary Authority of Macao. Some 274,900 of the cards allowed spending in Macau pataca by the end of June. About 66,000 allowed spending in Hong Kong dollars, while about 7,990 allowed spending in Chinese yuan, the authority says. Though small in relative terms, yuan cards had a higher growth rate than other cards, 14.5%, from 6,979 cards as of the end of June 2007, the authority says. The number of pataca cards increased 10.3%, from 249,250 cards. Credit card receivables increased 10%, to 922.8 million patacas (US$115.2 million or 80 million euros) at the end of the second quarter from 838.9 million patacas last year.
