Romania's credit card market, 20 years away from EU average

The penetration rate of credit cards in Romania amounts to 0.9 cards per capita, compared to the European average of 1.5 cards per capita, said Cosmin Vladimirescu, MasterCard Romania general manager. Romania would need about 20 years to close the gap with the European average, if the market doesn’t accelerate its current development, Vladimirescu added, cited by local Agerpres. He estimates that at least half of the market will migrate to the contactless cards in about 2 years. MasterCard Romania has issued about 1.3 million contactless cards so far. Romania’s credit cards market has stalled at about 14 million units for several years, amid the readjustment of portfolios, said Dana Demetrian, Retail and Private Banking vice-president with local lender BCR, cited by Mediafax. Local banks could stimulate the market by offering additional benefits for the customers. The ATM transactions have increased by up to 4% annually, whereas the POS transactions have gone up by 30-40%, BCR’s Demetrian said. editor@romania-insider.com