According to a recent official press release (PDF) issued by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC), the love affair between Tico consumers and credit cards grew fonder in 2011. The number of credit cards circulating in Costa Rica increased by 2.4 percent, for a total of 1,502,389 currently in the market.

The collective amount of debt owed by credit card holders in Costa Rica is now over $1.1 billion. This is an increase of half a percentage point compared to 2010.

Credit cards aren’t the only plastic method of payment that saw an increase in 2011. Debit cards are extremely popular in Costa Rica, and most are tied to savings, payroll and electronic accounts. The collective balance associated with debit cards in our country is currently more than $1.5 billion, refreshingly higher than the amount owed.

The Rate of Delinquency Declines

Late payments over 90 days represented 4.1 percent of the collective credit card balances owed. This is an improvement of 0.1 percent over the previous report in 2010.

Credit cards issued by Cooperativas (credit unions) reported overall lesser rates of delinquency.

Different Interest Rates Reported

Some Annual Percentage Rates (APR) of interest in the study exceeded the 50 percent threshold. These seemingly usurious credit cards are branded as Visa Local and International cards, as well as Compra Facil and Credix. The latter two cards are marketed for domestic use in certain retail establishments.

The lowest APR, 24 percent, was offered by Credomatic in 2011 with a Visa-branded card. Bancredito and Banco de Costa Rica also offered some of the lowest APRs in Costa Rica last year.