OREANDA-NEWS. The payment card issue grew by 6.5% in 2016 H1 as compared with 2015 H1 statistics. Payment (debit) cards still account for their greater part - 218.9 million, including 34.2 million cards with an overdraft option. Credit cards are not very popular in the Russian market; however, they steadily grow in number. By 1 July 2016, banks issued 30.1 million credit cards. By comparison, as of the start of 2016, 29.5 million credit cards were issued, according to the Bank of Russia statistics.

In 2016 H1, in Russia and outside Russia payment cards were used to complete 8.2 billion transactions overall worth 23.4 trillion rubles with private individuals still remaining payment card key users in Russia. Over the period in question, they used their cards to pay for goods and services and to withdraw cash 7.6 billion times worth 17.8 trillion rubles. Last year, the corresponding statistics was 5.6 billion and 14.9 trillion rubles respectively.

Non-cash payments by private individuals kept on growing as regards the structure of their payment card transactions. It is noteworthy that this tendency is stable on a quarterly basis. For example, as of June 2016 end, such transactions accounted for 78% in amount (6.2% growth against the corresponding period of last year) and for 31.2% in terms of volume. Over the reporting period, the Russians completed 5.9 billion payment card transactions in the sales and service network worth 5.6 trillion rubles. Cash withdrawals from ATMs and credit institutions cash desks turned out to be smaller in amount with 1.7 billion transactions, still taking the lead in terms of volume with 12.2 trillion rubles.