Azerbaijan, Baku, 22 May / Trend E. Aliyev /
The main problem of the payment card market in Azerbaijan lies in the passive use of existing infrastructure, the MilliKart processing center's executive director Jalal Orujov told Trend.
"The market for payment cards in Azerbaijan is at the stage of growth and start of development. Main problem today is that although the infrastructure is available, it is not being actively used. More than 40,000 POS-terminals have been installed to date, but only 20 percent of them are being actively used. I am talking about the terminals, through which at least one transaction per day is made. The primary goal today is to encourage these terminals to work harder. All the services that we provide are aimed precisely at active encouragement of cardholders to use them," he said.
Orujov said it is necessary to encourage shopping facilities to accept payments through cards.
"Banks hold a sufficient amount of events and activities that encourage their customers to pay with the card. It is necessary to carry out the same work in respect of commercial properties. Some time ago, a package of proposals was prepared, providing significant tax benefits for non-cash payments, including the elimination of VAT, reduction of income tax and other concessions. If passed, it would serve as quite a serious impetus to the development of electronic payments in Azerbaijan," MilliKart's executive director said.
In addition, he said, it is difficult to overestimate the role of the tax authorities in the control of non-cash transactions in the trading facilities.
"In addition to the incentives and benefits, there is a need for control. After the introduction of incentives, it is necessary to keep an eye on the problems arising with regards to making payments through cards. If to approach the problem globally, a need for the 'hot line' may arise, where the customer may report on where and when their cards were not accepted for payment," Orujov said.
MilliKart LLC was established on July 14, 2006 by 18 banks with a capital of four million manat. In 2010, MilliKart's share capital was increased to five million manat, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) became the nineteenth bank to join the organization. EBRD increased MilliKart's share capital by 500,000 manat, receiving a 10 percent interest in LLC.
To date, MilliKart serves 15 banks, which have installed over 380 ATMs and more than 6,000 POS-terminals and issued over 250,000 cards.