By Eliane Portillo

At the end of September 2011, according to statistics from the central agency, there were 24.9 million plastics.

Recent data from the Bank of Mexico revealed that 33% of the credit cards in circulation are not used. From that figure, 14.9 million were used to pay for purchases and to withdraw cash in ATMs and in super markets.

Thus, there are nine million credit cards unused at least during the third quarter of last year.

Among the reasons why a credit card is not used is because it already reached its peak in the line of credit granted by the banking institution. Or it is under a process of restructuring, involving the issuing bank to freeze it during this process.

Another reason is that customers decided not to use it, either to avoid their debts increase, or because they are over debt or seeking to avoid this.

The percentage of unused credit cards was slightly higher in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the first two quarters of the year.

And while in the first two, disuse was 35%, in the third it was 36% of total existing cards.

This behavior is related to the growth of the past-due portfolio.

According to the Bank of Mexico, for the credit cards segment, past-due portfolio was added to the same month of September $11,892.9 billion pesos. Although in the annual comparative showed a 4% reduction between September 2011 and the same month of 2010, every month since April of last year recorded constant growth.

This way, while due grows and generates that banks cancel credit cards, the total unused credit cards could grow.