Online card transactions to grow by 30% in Romania this year

The value of online card transactions in Romania will increase this year by 30 percent compared to 2010, to over EUR 165 million, according to card payments processing company RomCard. The number of online transactions will also increase, reaching 3.4 to 3.6 million, with about 50 to 60 percent more than last year’s level. “Most transactions will be made in the local currency”, said Marin Mitroi, RomCard’s president. In 2010, the number of online credit card transactions amounted to 2.26 million. Last year, Romanians made 520,000 transactions in euro, amounting to EUR 82.4 million. In the first five months of this year, the total number of transactions was about one million, according to RomCard, with over 820,000 online transactions in RON, 240,000 in EUR and 6,800 in USD. RomCard provides services on credit card transactions. Private equity fund Innova Capital acquired earlier this year a 96 percent share package in Provus Services provider and in its Romanian subsidiary RomCard from Turkven Private Equity and a consortium of Turkish investors. Mid-2010, Turkish Provus Services Provider bought local card operator RomCard from its shareholders BCR, BRD, Raiffeisen Bank, UniCredit Tiriac Bank and Financiara SA. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com