Standard Chartered's credit-card business is in a dilemma as customers in the first quarter spent more but were not piling up debt as they used to.
The bank's head of consumer banking, Tan Kong Khoon, said more card users were repaying their balances before interest was incurred.
'[Cardholders] are paying off the moment they receive the bill and [this] is just typical of a developed economy coming out from a very difficult period,' he said.
'While this may also have to do with the bonus many people received at the beginning of the year, it is a positive sign for the consumer.'
Still, spending on the banks' credit cards has increased slightly over the same period last year.
'People are spending more money - they are just not spending more on borrowed money,' Mr Tan said.
The trend could pose a tough challenge to Standard Chartered's credit-card business, one of the largest among Hong Kong banks, as earnings from revolving credit-card funds account for a large share of its revenue stream.