European Payment Cards Yearbook

Bulgaria - Summary

Market Overview

  
Payment Organization BORICA (Bank Organisation for Payments Initiated by Cards) is the debit card authorization centre.
   
Market Structure Most payments are made with cash; most electronic payments are credit transfers. The vast majority of bank cards are debit cards used for cash withdrawals. Card usage is growing rapidly from a small base. The number of cards issued rose from 106,000 in 1998 to 7.4 million in 2007, when penetration per capita reached almost 1.0.
   
Major Issuers UniCredit Bulbank, DSK Bank.
   
Consumer Finance Consumer loans reached BGN 7.3 billion (Û3.7 billion) by December 2008, equivalent to almost Û500 per person.
   

Key Statistics 2008

  
Population 7.7 million
Cards Debit: 6.9 million
Credit: 1.2 million
Total payment cards: 8.1 million

 

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