Baku, Azerbaijan, April 11
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
In February 2019, the volume of non-cash payments from cards used in Kazakhstan amounted to 617.1 billion tenge, an increase of 1.9 times compared with the same period last year, Trend reports with reference to the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan (AFC).
The share of Almaty in the total volume of payments by card in February rose and remains prevalent (70 percent).
The ratio of non-cash card payments to cash withdrawals at ATMs in February reached a maximum, increasing to 58 percent (when the ratio will be 100 percent, non-cash payment by card will equal the volume of cash withdrawal operations).
On the other hand, the share of non-cash transactions in the total volume of transactions (non-cash payments plus withdrawals at ATMs) rose in February to 37 percent.
The largest changes concerned the growth in the volume of transactions: in Almaty by 70.5 billion tenge, as well as a decrease by 29.4 billion tenge in Almaty region.
Changes in other regions were less significant.
The “average check” for non-cash payments using cards in February amounted to 10,239 tenge, while the average withdrawal amount at an ATM was 45,929 tenge which is 4.5 times more than in the same period last year.
Online payments account for 63 percent of the volume of non-cash payments by card, while 35 percent comes from payment through POS-terminals.
Moreover, over the past 12 months, the share of POS terminals in the total volume of card transactions in Kazakhstan decreased by 9 percent.
National Bank of Kazakhstan states that, as of March 1, 2019, the issuance of payment cards was actually carried out by 22 banks and Kazpost.
These organizations issue and distribute payment cards of international systems VISA International, MasterCard Worldwide, UnionPay International, American Express International and Diners Club International.
In addition, the banks of Kazakhstan issue payment cards of local systems: Altyn Card of Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan and local card of Citibank Kazakhstan.
As of March 1, 2019, 24.1 million payment cards are in circulation, and the number of holders of these cards was 20.8 million people (compared to the situation on the same date of 2018, an increase of 23.0 percent and 21.0 percent, respectively).
The most common are debit cards; their share is 75.6 percent, the share of credit cards is 20.8 percent.
The share of debit with a credit limit and prepaid cards accounts for 2.0 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
In February 2019, the volume of transactions using payment cards of Kazakhstan issuers (domestically and abroad) amounted to 1,817.6 billion tenge (38.4 percent increase compared to February 2018).
The number of transactions in February 2019 amounted to 93.3 million transactions and increased compared to February 2018 by 83.5 percent.
The number of non-cash payments increased 2.2 times (the number was 67.9 million transactions) and the increase in the amount of non-cash payments amounted to 97.9 percent (the volume was 718.3 billion tenge).
The growth of cash withdrawal operations grew by 26.9 percent (the number was 25.4 million transactions) and the growth of the amount of non-cash payments was 15.7 percent (the volume was 1,099.3 billion tenge).
The main share of non-cash payments was made through POS-terminals (54.6 percent and 35.0 percent of the total number and volume of non-cash payments) and Internet / mobile banking (44.4 percent and 62.9 percent, respectively).
Cash withdrawal operations were mainly performed through ATMs (90.4 percent and 83.7 percent of the total amount and volume of cash withdrawal transactions).
($1- 378.69 tenge on April 11)
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