Jakarta – Banks and other financial institutions have started rolling out initiatives in anticipation of a surge in consumer spending during the fasting month of Ramadhan by offering more credit cards to their customers, an analyst has said.
Google Indonesia e-commerce head Henky Prihatna said people were increasingly searching for information on how to apply for credit cards two weeks before Ramadhan, while banks started boosting promotion for their credit cards ahead of the fasting month.
"During Ramadhan spending usually surpasses cash payment ability. People start to think about using credit card services. Our survey showed a 60 percent increase in credit card payments during the season and a 20 percent increase in credit card promotion," said Henky recently.
The newest data from Google on consumer behavior during Ramadhan shows that data searches on topics related to the biggest celebration in the country increased up to 28 percent and spending increased up to 30 percent.
Henky further explained that in terms of sales fashion was the largest product category with a sales increase of 180 percent, followed by home appliances with 100 percent and cellular phones with 80 percent.
He explained that what surprised him more was that spending usually decreased in the latest week of Ramadhan but then increased again in the first and second week after Idul Fitri, a trend he assumes is caused by youngsters spending money they received from their relatives during Idul Fitri on fashion or gadgets. (dra/bbn)