Card payments up 60 percent from two years ago, spurred by pandemic

The value and number of payments by cards issued by resident payment service providers were 60 percent up in June 2021 compared to June 2019, due to digitalisation picking up speed in the banking system amid the Covid pandemic, reveals the survey titled DreptulLaBanking, which uses statistical data provided by the National Bank of Romania.According to the cited source, the pandemic restrictions have led to an increase in the use of bank cards in 2020, a trend that has grown stronger in 2021. The number of payments by cards issued by resident payment service providers was 61 percent higher in June 2021 compared to June 2019, standing at 327 million as to 203 million in the pre-pandemic year.The value of card payments increased by 60 percent to 41.4 billion lei at the end of June 2021, compared to 25.8 billion lei two years ago. Compared to June 2020, the increase in the value of card payment transactions was 46 higher, similar to the advance in the number of transactions.There was a total of 19.2 million cards in circulation in Romania at the end of June 2021, by 8.5 percent more than the 17.7 million reported in June 2019, with debit cards accounting for 16.2 million, and credit cards for 2.9 million. Romania thus reports approximately one bank card per person, which is one of the lowest such ratios in the EU, due to the persistent preference for cash payments.The survey on the digitalisation of the banking system in the Romanians' perception conducted in December 2020 by the Romanian Evaluation and Strategy Institute (IRES) reveals an increase in digitalisation compared to previous years, a trend substantially fueled by the health protection measures adopted during the pandemic. 43 percent of the users of financial services use their card for payments to merchants (POS), 27 percent pay via internet/mobile banking, and 61 percent of the respondents said that they withdraw cash from ATMs.The card usage behaviour shows that the share of people who withdraw cash from ATMs is 30 percent lower now than five years ago; however, 50 percent of the Romanians who use banking products and services stated that they never or almost never use the internet banking app and 43 percent do not use the mobile banking app, the IRES survey found.