After annual two-digit increases between 2003 and 2008, the Romanian card market has suddenly slowed down over the past two years on the crisis.
In mid-2010, only half of Romanians had a debit card, with around 10.7 million cards in circulation, while the number of people possessing a credit card was seven times smaller.
By comparison, in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, seven out of ten people had a debit card, while in Croatia there were 1.5 cards for each person, according to Erste Group data.
In Romania, the number of debit cards doubled from 2004 to 2008, while the number of credit cards rose five times, with the expansion however halting amid the crisis onset domestically and as some market segments bankers counted on during the growth years matured.
"On certain market segments, there's already saturation. The salary card market, for instance, has already been covered by existent companies and no new firms have emerged lately," comments Adrian Apolzan, chairman of the Electronic Payments Association of Romania (APERO).
After annual two-digit increases between 2003 and 2008, the Romanian card market has suddenly slowed down over the past two years on the crisis.
In mid-2010, only half of Romanians had a debit card, with around 10.7 million cards in circulation, while the number of people possessing a credit card was seven times smaller.
By comparison, in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, seven out of ten people had a debit card, while in Croatia there were 1.5 cards for each person, according to Erste Group data.
In Romania, the number of debit cards doubled from 2004 to 2008, while the number of credit cards rose five times, with the expansion however halting amid the crisis onset domestically and as some market segments bankers counted on during the growth years matured.
"On certain marke
