According to the Slovak Banking Association (SBA), Slovaks used payment cards more often in 2009 than in the previous year, although the number of cards in circulation was smaller. According to the association, the market reported an increase in payments at POS (point of sale) terminals and a decrease in cash withdrawals from cash machines, the SITA newswire reported.
In yearly terms, the number of cash withdrawals continues to exceed the number of card payments at POS terminals, but the difference is becoming smaller.
SBA director Ladislav Unčovský stated that in the last two quarters of 2009, bank clients used cards more to pay at POS terminals than to withdraw money.
The number of transactions increased 15 percent from 2008 to over 178 million and their volume went up by 2.5 percent to €13.2 billion. The number of credit cards declined twenty percent year on year because of negative impacts of the financial crisis, the association commented.
Debit cards made up 78.7 percent of all payment cards. Their number increased 2.2 percent to nearly 4 million. SITA
Compiled by Michaela Stanková and Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
