EXPOSURE OF CREDIT CARDS OF THE BANKING SYSTEM OF MACEDONIA - ANALYSIS THROUGH THE PRISM OF RISK OF INDEBTEDNESS AND PERSISTANT DEBT.

Credit cards are very popular product not just as a facilitator for making payment transactions but also because of its flexibility. Customers can decide how quickly they repay their balance, choosing whether to repay it in full at the end of each month or to spread payments over a longer period. Also because of its revolving character the costumers can spend the amount that had previously paid. That opens the question about the risk of indebtedness of this some of the users of credit cards who have persistent debt. The aim of this paper is to analyze the exposure of Macedonian banks to credit cards and to determine if some regulatory measures need to be taken. The exposure towards credit card of Macedonian banking system is more than 15% of total retail exposure and the exposure is stagnant through the years. Also, this exposure compared by number of employed workers on average is 1,5 higher than the average wage. Above 10% of the exposure is toward a clients that continuously have utilization rate of more than 90%. This is a strong indicator about persistent debt that requires regulatory measures in order to be resolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]