Even though the consumer credit boom in the last twelve months has yet to induce a similar trend on the credit card market, the Romanian banks, either on their own or working in concert, are showing signs they anticipate the growth potential of this new market niche.
Raiffeisen Bank on the one hand, and Finansbank along with Bucharest Mall on the other on Wednesday launched their first credit cards on a market that is yet too small and which very few players have dared tackle.
Out of more than 4.2 million active cards, the credit cards account for about 5.5%, an extremely low percentage if bearing in mind that the number of banks issuing "plastic money" amounts to 15 at the moment. If thinking in terms of absolute value, there actually are a little more that 250,000 credits cards.
Market surveys show the share of credit cards in the total may double next year, reaching about 10% and then be faster to progress. Where does this reluctance of the banks to issue credit cards come from though?
"As long as the Romanian economy is based on cash, this is the just the natural way of things. The costs a bank incurs for issuing a credit card are huge and as long as the card is used for withdrawing cash from an ATM, there is simply no reason for it. The credit card becomes profitable for a bank only if used at merchants. Things will change, we are sure about that," Rasvan Radu, Raiffeisen Bank vice-president said.
At present there are approximately 6,600 operational POS-es and 2,200 ATMs.
Albeit interests for loans against the card are higher than those of a regular loan, and getting such a card requires several trips to the bank to submit the necessary papers, the demand for credit cards could be high, though.
A credit card practically enables the holder to use the credit limit for the entire period during which the card is valid, without having to put together the credit application papers every time.
oana.nuta@zf.ro
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