Romanians still prefer cash to card payments

The cardholders in Romania made EUR 1.7 billion worth of electronic payments to merchants in the first six months of the year, up 22% compared to the same period in 2015, according to data from Romania's National Bank (BNR). However, cash withdrawals also increased by 17% year-on-year in the first half of 2016, to some EUR 8.5 billion, reports local Mediafax. Romanians made 66 million payments via POS between January and June this year, which means that the average value of a card payment amounted to RON 115 (EUR 25.8), slightly lower year-on-year. Meanwhile, the average value of an ATM withdrawal was RON 598 (some EUR 135) in this period, higher than the average RON 554 registered in the first six months of 2015. Local banks usually charge fees of 0.2% for cash withdrawals from ATMs, while card payments to merchants are free. At the end of June, the banks in Romania had about 11.4 million active cards in their portfolios, 800,000 more than in late-June 2015. Meanwhile, the POS network increased to 148,800 units, while the number of ATMs decreased to 11,615. New law allows retailers in Romania to give cash to clients who pay by card Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com