“Romania registers six card payments per capita annually and is followed only by Bulgaria with four card payments per year,” Andrei Cretu, managing consulting with PwC, said Wednesday at the conference Mediafax Talks about Mobile Banking.
Cretu also said the Czech Republic registers 26 card payments per capita annually, followed by Hungary with 23 payments, while Great Britain holds the top spot with 128 card payments per capita annually.
“Romanians continue to use mainly cash, but the use of cards is estimated to be on the rise in the future,” said Cretu.
In Romania, 87% of card transactions are operated via ATMs when cardholders withdraw money and only 13% of card transactions are operated via point-of-sale (POS) terminals. In Western Europe, POS payments account for the bulk of transactions and only 36% of card transactions are operated via ATMs, while in Central and Eastern Europe, POS payments account for 58%.
People aged 25 to 34, living in urban areas, used internet banking services the most over the past three months, accounting for 12.8%, and people aged 35 to 44 hold a 11.7% share.
Internet banking services were mostly used in the past three months by people aged 45 to 54, accounting for 9.1%, followed by people aged 55 to 64, with a 7.3% share, people aged 65 to 74, accounting for 4.1% and youths aged 16 to 24, with a 3.1% share, according to data from the National Statistics Institute.
PwC offers financial audit services, as well as fiscal and business consultancy.