Visa: Romanians pay by card more often but spend less

The number of transactions with Visa cards at Point Of Sale (POS) went up by 30 percent in 2011 in Romania, according to data issued by Visa Europe. The average amount spent by consumers and paid by a Visa card continued to drop last year, to some EUR 38 per transaction. This confirmed the trend to use cards for smaller, daily payments. The average POS transaction value dropped by 6.6 percent, while the total value of payments processed through POS went up by 44 percent last year, according to Visa Europe. Total spending paid by Visa cards was up 13 percent last year in Romania – including POS and ATM machines.

“Credit cards and business cards reported double digit increases on all indicators, with a highlight on the 55 percent increase of POS transactions with credit cards,” said Catalin Cretu, general manager for Romania with Visa Europe (in picture). Visa reached 6.8 million cards in Romania – 4.5 percent growth compared to 2010. Debit cards make up the bulk of the total card numbers, with 80 percent of total spending on card covered by debit cards. The total spending paid by Visa cards in Europe went up by 14 percent in 2011, to some EUR 1.16 billion. This translates as EUR 1 out of every EUR 7 spent in Europe paid by Visa card, according to the company. Corina Saceanu, corina@romania-insider.com (photo source: Visa)