More Credit Cards Issued in Russia
The number of credit cards issued in Russia reached 74.6 million in January, exceeding those 72 million companies and individuals engaged in economic operations, the Bank of Russia reported Friday. The credit card “turnover” reached 1.3 trillion rubles in the fourth quarter of 2006, slightly lower that the retail turnover in November and December.
Credit cards in Russia are still overwhelmingly used for drawing out cash. They were used for payments only in 19.1 percent of credit card operations in January. Most Russians use credit cards one or two times a month – to draw out their salaries.
In Moscow, where a lot of people have personal as well as corporate credit cards, cards were used for payments in 27.3 percent of total operations.
Visa has recently released a report, pointing out that expenses related to using cash for payments amount to 5-7 percent of the Russian GDP. An increase in credit card payments would save Russia 1 percent of the GDP, or 270 billion dollars, experts from the global payment system estimated.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Feb. 19, 2007
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