Bonus plastic cards enter Azerbaijani banks' field of interest

By AzerNews

The MasterCard international payment system said Azerbaijani banks are greatly interested in using bonus plastic cards.

The news was announced by Hakan Ajar, the regional manager of MasterCard in Azerbaijan.

"2013 was a very successful year for us. One of the features of the payment card market was the sharp increase in using credit cards," he told Baku-based Trend news agency last week. "It is because the bonus cards delivered to the market at the end of 2012 were actively used in 2013. Serious progress was achieved in replacing cash in non-cash transactions, the number of cards has increased, and the number of trade points that participated in bonus campaigns has increased."

Ajar went on to say that four or five banks actively work with bonus campaigns in Azerbaijan at present.

Azerbaijan's other banks, as well as consumers have shown great interest in the bonus campaigns, he said. The Baku population is interested in using credit cards where they get bonus for it.

According to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, in the first 10 months of 2013 the number of payment cards has increased by 7 percent, reaching 5.36 million units, while the number of credit cards has doubled, reaching 800,000 units.