Romania 1H Online Card Payments Up 68% YY To EUR43.5M

Romanian online card payments soared 68% on the year to EUR43.5 million in the first half, card processor RomCard said Tuesday, cited by Gecad ePayment.

"The market saw a natural evolution, especially given the current economic background. Traders are forced to lower their prices, and one of the best method is to turn to the Internet as a low-cost market, with respect to personnel, maintenance, logistics etc. In addition, all stores have improved their offers, regardless of their activity, and this is another reason for the positive evolution in the first half of the year, compared to the similar period of 2008," RomCard general manager Marin Mitroi said in a statement.

Online card payments reached 570,000 transactions in the first half year, the bulk of which (500,000 transactions totaling EUR40.5 million) have been processed by Gecad ePayment.

Payments in tourism and transports saw the biggest increase in the mentioned interval, of 158% on the year, followed by telecom and services online card payments, which rose by some 85% on the year, Gecad said.

It said non-IT retail payments rose by 67% on the year, while IT retail payments saw a 2% drop on the year, due to lower sales in the second quarter.
In 2008, Romanian online card payments rose 53% on the year to EUR53.1 million.

mediafax.ro