The cards and payments industry in Bulgaria is expected to expand over the next four years despite credit card fraud in the nation reaching its highest ever level last year.
According to new data from Timetric, the transactional value of the cards payment market increased at a rate of 6.19% from 2008 to 2012, while the transaction value of the prepaid cards category soared by 34.70%.
Transactional value is projected to continue its upward trend, with growth of 16.19% between 2013 and 2017. Despite this, the number of cards in circulation has declined, with the prepaid card category the only one to increase, from 73,431 cards in 2008 to 198,600 cards in 2012. This number is expected to grow by 15.27% to reach 438,222 cards in 2017.
As competition among card issuers continues to increase, a variety of marketing, product and pricing strategies are employed by card issuers to retain as well as increase their customer base, particularly among young people. 15-24 year olds represent 11% of the country’s total population and according to the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, 81.3% of individuals aged between 16-24 years use the internet regularly for online shopping. To entice the younger population, banks are offering debit and credit cards with special discounts and privileges.
The rapid growth in the prepaid cards category is driven by sustained growth in online and mobile shopping. In a bid to combat fraud, consumers are increasingly using cards secured by 3D Secure service due to the extra protection it provides for online shopping. The high growth in the prepaid cards category is expected to drive the cards payment market as a whole over the next four years.
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