In January-June 2016, cash withdrawals at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) rose 17% to nearly RON38 billion (EUR8.5 billion).
Romanians made 66 million payments at POSs (points of sale) in the first six months of 2016, which means the average value of a card transaction at merchants reached RON115, lower by RON2 compared with the same period in 2015.
The average value of cash withdrawals at ATMs stood at RON598 in January-June 2016, which means approximately one third of the average monthly net wage of nearly RON2,000. By comparison, in 2015, the average value of cash withdrawals using local cards reached RON554.
End-June this year, banks had nearly 11.4 million active cards in their portfolios, 800,000 more units than in June 2015. Active cards are the ones used frequently by card holders.
The number of ATMs reached 11,615 units, fewer by some 140 than in the previous year.