Number of payment cards issued in Russia tops 250 millions

Statistics shows that Russian banks continue to upscale payment cards issue: 251 million of cards have been issued as for 1 October 2016, representing a 4.5% increase compared to last year. Debit cards have the largest share, 88%, same as in previous years.

Russian card holders carried out 11.8 billion of operations worth 27.8 trillion rubles in January—September 2016. According to the statistics, withdrawing cash from ATMs or banks becomes less and less common: bank cards are used mainly to pay for goods and services. As for 1 October 2016, cash withdrawal represents 21.6% of operations, meaning almost 6% decrease, while payments for goods and services grew by the same number, hitting 78.4%.

458 credit institutions conducted payment cards emissions or/and acquiring as for 1 October 2016.