The payments were rejected because banks did not find sufficient cash in the customers’ accounts, mostly companies, that initiated the payments in question.
Promissory notes accounted for most of the amount of payments rejected, RON144 million or 97% of the total. Promissory notes and cheques are used by companies to pay for merchandise as they rarely pay cash.
The number of rejected debit payment instruments stood at 4,598 in May, 219 more than in April. The average amount of rejected payments in the first five months of 2018 was RON130 million, while the total amount was RON651 million.
Romanian companies are more exposed to the risk of not collecting their accounts receivable due to the payment term being longer than the European average. Average payment term in Romania is 69 days, compared with 64 days in Europe. (EUR1=RON4.6686)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)