Payments and cash withdrawals from Romania using foreign cards grow to EUR 300 mln in third quarter

The value of payments using foreign-issued cards to Romanian traders climbed to a record EUR 94 million, 25 percent above the previous quarter's level. The value of cash withdrawals using foreign cards at Romanian ATMs also increased to EUR 191 million, more than 50 percent higher than the previous quarter and 9 percent above the level of the same period last year. On the other hand, Romanians used cards to pay EUR 225 million in the third quarter to POS terminals abroad, the largest amount reported to date, and withdrew EUR 88.5 million from foreign ATMs, according to data from the Romanian Central Bank (BNR). The value of foreign POS transactions in the third quarter is 25 percent higher than that recorded at the end of the second quarter. Cash withdrawals using cards issued by Romanian banks also reached a record level. Mediafax